LIVE: Isaac Gracie - The King's Head Members Club, London 21.03.17

“I never know what to say between songs” Isaac Gracie revealed mid-set to his sold out crowd at The King’s Head Members Club on Tuesday night. Keen to fill the appreciative between-track silence, an enthusiastic fan yelled “You don’t have to say anything, we love you!” – a sentiment which Gracie reciprocated with a wry smile.

Surrounded by fans (and the venues unique choice of taxidermy), Gracie seemed at ease in such an intimate setting as he played songs both new and old. Intermittently sipping from bottles of Blue Moon and still water, he praised his support act Hannah Lou Clark, who made a remarkable impression with her incredible vocals and bluesy guitar. Gracie opened his set with the brilliant ‘Digging’ – taken from his live EP recording Songs In Black And White – and the crowd were spellbound from the moment he struck the first chord.

His confessional lyrics and melancholy guitar are what move people to distraction. Musically, he has an enviable sensitivity for the right chord, and his vocals were pitch perfect throughout the set; especially on latest single ‘Reverie’. The song is an exquisitely painful ballad that needs to be heard live to be fully appreciated, but this can be said for all of Gracie’s catalogue. His renditions of ‘All In My Mind’ and ‘Burn My Clothes, Bury My Crown’ were particularly impressive, but the crowd favourite was clearly ‘Terrified’. The track is a stunning admission of inadequacy on which Gracie confesses: “I’m terrified that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this”. This fear isn’t shared by his fans though. They encouraged and rewarded him with consistent applause and unwavering attention.

Gracie even reprimanded himself for closing his eyes whilst singing – conscious that he “drifts” away from the microphone – but his attempts at self deprecation fell deaf on otherwise attentive ears. He closed his set with the appropriately named ‘Last Words’, and his poignant lyrics and perfectly paced guitar playing acted as further proof that Isaac Gracie is a modest, but immensely talented musician who should be at the top of everyone’s ‘must see’ list.