It was nice to see in the fourth Thursday night of the month at Chalk Farm Folk at The Monarch. It was a mixed crowd of people (including ex Aston Villa and Crawley Town manager John Gregory) who’d come for the music and not, as is often the case in the capital, to be seen.

With the acoustics nigh on perfect – the low stage built at the front of the establishment so that performers throw their voices into the crowd, their backs to the pavement – Alex Lipinski took to the mic on a four-act bill. It was something of an unexpected appearance in the capital from the Weston-super-Mare man, who has been busy of late recording albums with Bonehead and Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, but playing to a room of 70 people for a one-off demonstration of his unique talent is clearly something he gets a kick out of.

Looking older and wiser after a sustained period of writing, gigging and recording, he swept through an 11-song set with the bravura of a singer-songwriter who cares not whether the venue is intimate or cavernous, just so long as he can sing. And with a voice pitched somewhere between Lennon, Orbison and Dylan, he dispatched with any semblance of Britpop to deliver a relaxed performance, including songs like ‘Better The Devil’, ‘The Great Deprived’ and ‘Hurricane’, which showcased his technical ability as a fine guitarist and harmonica player. Lipinski comes across like a star in waiting – one who possesses immense patience with the powers that be – who lets his voice and playing speak for themselves. Bombast is not his style. Elegance is.

Throwing in a stirring performance of Elvis’s ‘That’s Alright Mama’ helped swell the crowd as people came off the street to hear him. He can still an audience, shut them up and make them listen which is a near miracle in London town, and when he wrapped, unplugging his guitar and drifting to the stage’s edge, even the bartenders stopped serving, resting hands on chins to listen. Now all that’s needed is for TV and radio to shine a light on this hard-working troubadour. Few deserve accolades the way he does.

Jason Holmes
@JasonAHolmes