Wednesday 07/02/07 Kid Harpoon & The Powers That Be @ Nambucca, London

It is safe to say we like Kid Harpoon here at Gigwise. We gave his debut track ‘Riverside’ 4 stars and placed it at number 44 in our top 50 singles of 2006; we have always been full of praise in reviews of his live shows and tipped him as one to watch in 2007. So what’s next? Enter The Powers That Be…

There was never going to be any other venue for the launch of this new chapter in Kid Harpoon’s career than Nambucca, the North London bar than is literally a home from home for a whole host of London talent. Whilst waiting in the bar for the gig there are cheers as Alfie of The Holloways, another of Nambucca’s favourite sons, guests on ‘Nevermind The Buzzcocks’. There is a definite air that, despite England’s now customary woeful attempts at football, tonight shall be a night to remember.

Having toured extensively in the autumn of last year Kid Harpoon holed up for the winter months putting together a band to accompany his unique acoustic sound. And like Liam Frost achieved last year by adding The Slowdown Family to his solo act, Kid Harpoon has emerged with a sound that should deliver his name onto the stage that it deserves. Whilst retaining the rawness, passion and sing a long nature of his solo set The Powers That Be bring a polished, rock edge that adds to the style of his existing material and helps deliver new songs that could not be achieved without their help. Evidence of this is shown early on with the whimsical fairytale that is ‘Late For The Devil’ a song which captures Kid Harpoon’s sound perfectly. It brings smiles to faces, claps to hands and dancing to feet.

There is a fairytale feel to many of Kid Harpoons songs. His sound evokes recollections of childhood tales of pirates, medieval courts hosting grand banquets and cartoon chase scenes. On ‘Riverside’ the vocals range from a barking growl to a high falsetto and back with ease. The addition of the band is really felt here as they highlight “that there is darkness and there is light” within the song. They are used to illuminate each chapter of this tale. The use of the band also allows Harps to reveal a new song to his set in ‘Death Of A Rose’ which he plays on keyboard but manages to keep the jaunty theatre of his earlier work. 

As is always the case when playing a secret gig the crowd was filled with people who know every word and sing along to every song in order to make the band feel confident to take the show out on the road. However on this evidence by the end of the forthcoming tour it won’t just be the regulars of Nambucca that can claim Kid Harpoon as one of their own.