Bellowhead

Armed with a cello, double bass, violin, autoharp, harmonium, glockenspiel and more, the Moulettes warm up the crowd with their unique style that can be most easily described as alt-folk, but really doesn’t seem to fully fit into one genre. The two singers create a vocal sound that is perfectly harmonic and that beautifully echoes round the large hall at the Open venue. The quality of their sound overall is amazing as they mix together the classical sounds of the violin and double bass to create something modern but reminiscent, making them popular with young and old alike.

Following on from the Moulette’s multi-instrumental talent, Bellowhead enter the stage with an even more impressive number of instruments than the band before. They manage to completely fill the stage with their presence, creating a varied and interesting show with the choice to watch one of eleven of the very talented players at any one point. One of the most exciting things about the show is that each song, despite being played by the same 11 people, is so different because of the many diversity in the ensemble of instruments. The sheer size of the band never seems to be a disadvantage as singer Joe Boden races around the stage managing to sew together all the different sounds and bring them together as a whole with his enticing and charming voice. The gig, just like many of their songs, seems to build and build with energy until the very last few songs where the music gets louder and faster and more people in the audience are dancing or stamping along. The only dampener on the evening would be the selection of very rude individuals in the crowd who decided it was their mission to make our time there as uncomfortable as possible. Despite this, the band themselves made the entire night completely compelling, and I found myself completely engrossed.