Following a couple of years of festival spots and support slots, Adam French‘s debut headline tour is off to an impressive start with a sold out night at London’s The Social. While it’s one of the city’s more intimate venues, there’s clearly a wealth of talent that French has to share. Judging by his stage presence (tiptoeing either side of confident and cocky) and the comments made about the silence between tracks (he introduces new number ‘Euthanasia’ stating that “It’s probably welcomed”) it could be said that in his head he’s ready for the huge-crowd hums that bridge set-lists in bigger venues. He wouldn’t be wrong, either – as the beginnings of his winning catalogue show.
Well-crafted, “hit” length and merging his gravel tones with hints of indie shuffles, rock riffs, folk flicks and r’n’b melodies, French’s songs show him as the anti-male singer/songwriter; a One Door Cinema or Bombay Bicycle Solo Venture. ‘Face To Face’ and ‘Weightless’ are given their first live outings, showcasing his more upbeat and tender moments respectively, but the highlights here are those where the crowd already know the words. ‘Punchbag Love’ is a vocal/piano only moment, while closer ‘Ivory’ allows him to leave the choruses to the crowd.
“Being serious for a minute – cause I’m a fucking arsehole – this has been very special,” he tells the crowd once the short set is up. Arsehole or otherwise, it was special, offering an insight into an act for whom 2016 could well be his year.
Dan Bull
@danbull7609
Dan Bull
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