Live: Luke Daniels

15th November

The Castle Hotel

7/10

As part of the Hey! Manchester compilation, Luke Daniels and friends took to the intimate back room of the The Castle Hotel on Saturday night.

Having never ventured to this gem of a pub located at the top end of the Northern Quarter, I was pleasantly surprised at how well venue and act fit together. The room had the feeling of a converted barn; the small stage, adorned with shabby Persian rug, was sheltered by a shapely, wooden beamed high ceiling. This proved a perfect ambiance for the evening of folk music that followed.

Daniels took the stage with his accompanying female singer, who mesmerizingly led the performance of a few Scottish Gaelic songs, and his cellist who injected an energy into the set. They had all met in Glasgow and he explained his transition from backing musician, playing for many impressive scores including the soundtracks of both of Tolkien’s epics, to being an artist in his own right; he had things to say.

Before every song Daniels told us what had inspired him to write it, in many cases giving the pieces a sinister twist. He joked that he put all the badness into his songs so that hopefully goodness was left at the other side. This gave greater depth to the music that, due to the prettiness of folk, can sometimes be lost.

The true earthiness of the set was felt with the banjo that took the spotlight of the second half, taking the music back to its bluegrass roots. For me, the crescendo moment rightly occurred at the very end. Daniels has in many ways a subtle voice that lacks an intensity, however his performance of ‘Healing Stream’, a song inspired by a traditional Salvation Army hymn and a piece he described as “the greatest love song ever written,” was where he let his true, raw emotion ring out.