Birds of Hell @ The Plasterer's Arms, Norwich

Pete (taking a break from Norwich's Sargasso Trio) is Birds of Hell. He makes splendid music; often pretty, sometimes terrifying, always emotional and clever. With his first solo 7", Boa, due out soon, Pete's been playing all round the city recently. Somehow, I've missed out on seeing him...until tonight.

It's quiet at the Plasterer's; after all, this is a school night, but everyone in the bar is silent throughout his performance. Tonight he's brought a beautiful little vintage car boot organ with him, along with a top-loading cassette player containing his pre recorded beats and samples for the evening, a special shoe with bells on, for tapping, and a guitar. Fully equipped, Pete's confident and comfortable in front of an audience and it's clear that for him, his relationship with the people watching is important. He explains some of the songs and enjoys general chat with us; it's a comfortable and intimate feeling between performer and crowd tonight.

Pete's songs range in subject from visiting Yarmouth in the future, fatherhood, going out on a Saturday night and dogging. His voice is textured and real, with hints of the gruff but gentle side of Tom Waits at times. His songs are observational, thoughtful and often narrative driven, and he uses his voice as a paintbrush, with melodies that are simple enough not to draw attention from the lyrics, but interesting enough to keep us on our toes. It reminds me a little of Fionn Regan's early stuff, although I believe with a larger stage and audience he gives a more full on performance. He does one cover this evening, a The Unincluded track called Alligator; a stream of consciousness, sometimes nonsense, that contains so many words it seems impossible that he's remembered them all. But he has, and it's magnificent. Hometown Rage sees Pete singing nostalgically about growing up, and it ends with him layering the actual singing voice of his grandmother who died in the 1940's (he found some 78's in his attic) with his, accompanied by soft acoustic guitar. I'm not ashamed to say I cried.