The Shoreditch Fringe Festival has been a massive 7 week event running from July 6^th and coming to an end on August 27^th. Taking place in venues all over Shoreditch the festival hosts creative events for a whole range of different tastes.

Fault magazine went along to Shoreditch’s Old Street venue, ‘XOYO’ to check out the live acts at their Smashing Blouse event.

‘I Dream in Colour’ was the first band to take the stage. Made up of four guys originating from Essex they have so skilfully escaped the stigma associated with the title ‘Essex boys.’ Over the past months they have been building quite a name for themselves in the London indie scene and from watching them perform I can see why. Their great ability at writing original up-tempo tracks was highlighted by the stage presence of front man Richard while the backing vocals and instrumental talent of the rest of the band enriched the delicate rhythms of the slower tracks.

 

The next live act to perform was the Southampton four piece ‘Pale Seas.’ The band have spent much of their time playing live gigs up and down the country and spreading their unique folk/rock sound. I admit that I had previously listened to their track ‘Something or Nothing’ via their website however seeing it performed in the flesh saw lead singer Jacob add another layer of emotion and rawness to the track. Even the backing vocals on lyrics, “You know she’s fallen, but I know how hard” are rich with passion and sincerity. They have obviously put as much focus into fine tuning their vocal control as they have their equally as impressive instrumental expertise.

 

Willy Moon was the final band to take the stage that night. Sharply dressed in his black suit, white shirt and slicked hair I felt impelled to get his opinion on the invention of the new colour television set and exchange tips for surviving the impeding nuclear strike from the Soviets, alas I restrained myself.

Moon sang and performed as impeccably as he dressed. He kept the whole crowd 100% focused on him during their set and somehow found enough room on the small stage to break out the best dance moves of the night. Backed by a highly skilled female guitarist and drummer he sang the life out of each track (which at times did unfortunately verge on shouting) yet he still performed an arena worthy show. Highlight performance for me has to be their cover of ‘I Put a Spell on You’ by the late, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Truly showing off his full vocal range and power, Willy Moon belted out the track in a pitch perfect display that tremored throughout the audience.

Newton Falkner then took to the stage as the final live performer of the night. Armed with just a guitar he began to play tracks from his number 1 hit album “Write It On Your Skin” before taking requests from the audience which would prove most enjoyable. Playing an acoustic version of the chorus to Blackstreet’s RnB classic ‘No Diggity’ the crowd was able to persuade Faulkner to complete the whole song which will definitely go down in music history as a moment of pure genius, however I was sad to see that my request for ‘Niggas in Paris’ unsurprisingly fell on deaf ears…

About 2 seconds after Faulkner left the stage the audience started dancing frantically to a recording of Azelia Bank’s track ‘212′  which meant an end to the live music.

All in all the night was a fine display of talent from every act that performed. All bringing something unique to the table and putting on a range of different but great performances. A fine display of the young musical talent the world has to offer.

For more photographs of the night and interviews with audience members, keep an eye on the official Fault Magazine Tumblr page.

Words & Photos: Miles Holder