Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Camp and Furnace in Liverpool is an open secret, those that know about this charming cultural hive of activity cannot get enough of it and its industrial past, the relic of an industrial revolution that has gone beyond the thought of dirt, disease and dark satanic mills and has become a place of beauty. It is also a great place in which to catch live acoustic music and the slight nod to the electric.
As part of a refined and cultivated day and fair at Camp and Furnace, Gary Edward Jones came on to the stage and thrilled and cajoled a crowd that stopped what they were looking at on the burgeoning and bending trestle tables for the second time in an hour and took in the charisma and humour of a man soon to release his new album.
A cabinet maker by trade, Gary Edward Jones would have no doubt felt at home in the foundry’s history, the thought of working with his hands on somebody’s new item for their home but his voice and his lyric writing is even more impressive. What is a sign of things to come is how ready he was to step into the void vacated by another musician and perform a set in which he wasn’t expecting to take part in. Confidence, talent and timing is everything.
Armed with a guitar borrowed from his great friend Elizabeth Kearney from the superb NightHowl, Gary disarmed the huge amount of people milling round the various stalls with tracks such as All I Want Is You, in which the aforementioned Ms. Kearney contributed backing vocals for, Bang Bang Bang, Is This Real, the excellent and melancholic Mr. Lonely Times and When We Were Young.
It is this type of impromptu performance, the unexpected chance to rouse the spirits before an album gets heard for the first time that makes music so special and in this wonderful set, sandwiched between Nighthowl and Matt Breen and with the July sun making its overdue appearance, Gary Edward Jones showed exactly why he is a name to keep in mind to watch when the year turns and the cold miserable weather returns, somebody who can make you smile and sing with gladdened heart is always worth catching live.
Ian D. Hall