The first act of the night was Rosa Gosling, a singer-songwriter that I have endless praise for. Rosa’s musical abilities are clear from even her shortest sets. The emotions that Rosa conveys pervade her tone so honestly that audience members can feel every nuance of pain, struggle and joy that line each narrative. The confidence that emanates from her guitar strings also carries across to her stage presence, where Rosa looks truly at home. Rosa showed no fear introducing the night and transformed a dark empty room into a warm and vibrant one that undoubtedly excited the crowd for the following acts.
Tree House were an inherently groovy experience and definitely made the audience move their heads to the beat. Adorably minimalist whilst curating happy vibes that made me feel like it was summer again. Tree House were a well-chosen contrast to Rosa’s set.
Exclaiming that his EP launched only 5 hours before, Elliott launched into his set. I first have to congratulate Elliott for putting on such a varied launch in what was an inevitably hectic time, and he did it all with a smile on his face. Elliott’s set was well composed and didn’t falter in vitality or intrigue. Charmingly relatable lyrics overarched every song that Elliott and his band played on the night. What I gleaned most obviously was the diversity of Elliott’s talents: he can spontaneously end with a solo tune but also gets an audience dancing with his up tempo songs.
Elliott’s band are a talented bunch. The drumming on the night was very tight. Rafi made an excellent contribution to the band in keeping the pace and energy of the set rolling fluidly. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rafi so full of expression so you can take from that what you will. The use of electronic equipment was pretty prominent but definitely not overdone. The synth and sinewave machine added bursts of interest and groove to the songs. Sax additions gave well-appreciated acoustic input. Elliott truly seemed to love playing to us all in that packed little room at Crofters.