Narc. Magazine Online
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Dawn Storey enjoys a show from two master songwriters
Image by Louise Wilkin
It’s the second time these two gents have played a Launderette show together, and another sell-out.
David Ford is captivating in his ability to switch easily between angelic wail and gravel-throated growl, and Go to Hell and Real Damn Slow best demonstrate this skill tonight, while When We Were Young is especially poignant. He introduces some of his eccentric inventions which solve musical problems nobody realised existed, including a drum machine which can be played by a tin of pineapple chunks. Not a sentence I ever expected to include in a gig review, but Ford always has liked to do things differently.
Abe Partridge is a master of his craft and I adore him. His wit and his cleverly chosen words make you chuckle in one song before they smash your heart to pieces in the next. From a preacher to an air force serviceman to a songwriter, he’s lived quite the life already and paints the most brilliant and vivid pictures with his lyrics. Arletta is inspired by interesting characters he’s met at all night truck stops, and Breaking Up Christmas is the most beautiful ode to his Grandma – the glue that held his family together. “Last year was the first time I’d ever played a launderette and it’s pretty damn cool,” says Abe. Yes, yes it is.
