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Feist, The Social 23rd September.

Feist is rapidly becoming the lady of the moment and not just because her gorgeous new single ‘1234’ is in an advert for a certain MP3 player. Her third solo album was released this year and was met with unanimous critical acclaim and tonight she proves her worth to a small sold out crowd. Supporting Feist is the wonderfully eccentric Bob Wiseman, who is far from your average singer/songwriter. His set shows him to be a multi-instrumentalist, film maker and all around loon. His amateur style films coupled with his simplistic lyrics allow him to present serious issues such as terminal illness and mental health in a relatable and sometimes humorous way. The humor is often generated by confusion rather than hilarity as it’s never really clear if the set is meant to be funny and this makes his show uncomfortable at times. Wiseman seems more of a novelty than a substantial artist and the reaction of the crowd is lukewarm at best as it’s difficult to take his work seriously as he doesn’t seem to at all, at one point singing along to a film asking why Guns ‘N Roses have a record deal and he doesn’t.

When Feist takes to the stage the audience shows what they’re capable of, showering her with cheers. She begins the set solo with just a guitar and her understated, soulful voice. She promises to fill the stage with ‘great men’ and she certainly does her four piece band join her, they constantly swap intruments throughout the show and play everything from the bassoon to the banjo. Along with her solo projects Feist is part of Broken Social Scene and she seems far more comfortable with a band behind her, taking off her jacket to show the audience her ‘razzle dazzle’. She struts along the stage and lets rip on her guitar showing herself to be a wonderfully talented musician. She often layers her voice during songs which adds a depth to the sound that you rarely hear in a live set. She also makes the brave move of asking for audience participation on a number of songs and in this case it works beautifully, bringing the small room to life.

Feist is still touring across Europe for dates check her Myspace.

Feist-1234

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