大象传媒

The singer-songwriter is sometimes considered the scourge of a good night out, leading to the mass exodus of any bar or venue when they tune up, or destined to be politely applauded (if lucky) at the end of every song while the audience wait for, say Bonnie Prince Billy to show up. Any budding guitar manglers might want to look at a night like this and stick to murdering Damien Rice on their own time. We do, of course mean that metaphorically - otherwise that would be illegal. And illegal isn't cool, kids.

Tonight we've a combination of singers set free from their roles in respective bands and performers in their own right. First up we've got Darren Doherty from A Northern Light. Without the backing of his band, there's a definite trad element to their work, recalling the likes of the Waterboys or, more recently of Mumford and Sons. There's an instant buzz, far removed from the 'same old, same old'.

There's a two-ring circus style system in operation, with alternating areas for the different acts. Next up we have Chris Campbell and Paper Boats. He's 20 years old, he's been performing for a bare 6 months and he's more than holding his own amongst the more seasoned performers. His voice recalls early, pre-Mercury award era Elbow. There's some very strong songwriting on display and with the Paper Boats he's got a great backing band.

Paul Corrigan is next up, with a fine clutch of tunes and a very strong voice, followed by the first of several bonus acts, Ryan from Kasper Rosa. Without the band behind him he maintains the complexity of the music, but adding his own unique vocals. It's reminiscent of Mark Kozelek's solo work, acoustic music that owes more to classic rock than the likes of Bob Dylan or Nick Drake. A world weary cover of Frightened Rabbit's Poke ends the set nicely.

Linebacker Dirge are clearly not having a good night - a duet of violin and acoustic, there's a few tuning issues and the audience, many of whom have been here for 4 hours are beginning to flag. At the end they rise above it and manage to nail the last tune.

Verse Chorus Verse is like the opposite of Bob Dylan going electric - ASIWYFA's Tony going acoustic and singing. But there are no cries of Judas as he takes to the stage. There's no vocal histrionics here, just a selection of songs, from the brand new to one he wrote when he was 14 years old. There's a definite need by Tony to be heard beyond the parent band and the audience respond in kind.

The night is drawing to a close when Tony McHugh takes to the improvised stage. The loop pedal has become the stock in trade of the guitar hack, which means any attempt to use it creatively shines through. Four part harmonies, percussion and additional melodies enhance the songs, without drowning the song-writing on display. He engages the audience from the start improvising and adding a crowd pleasing Paul Simon cover.

The acoustic showcase can often be an endurance test, but tonight has shown that given the right crowd, the right venue and a terrifically strong line-up the much maligned singer songwriter can leave behind the shadow of grim open mic nights and make the scene their own.