Chris Thompson

It’s one of those nights, where it feels as if the artists have crept inside your head, feasted on your feelings and then regurgitated them on stage for all to hear. For a moment this creates a sense of being crudely violated but a quick glance around the pub shows nodding approval from the entire audience, suggesting such an emotional offering is the order of the day.

It opens with Chris Thompson, who doses the Wheatsheaf with a decent helping of gloom created by his own crafting, as well as a humbling fingerplucking cover of Oasis’ ‘Half The World Away’, resulting in a more than satisfying start to an evening that’s not for the faint of heart.

With that in mind, Little Fish’s Juju rises to the stage and promptly adds to the cocktail of prescription sadness. Offering delightful acoustic versions of some of Little Fish’s most poignant songs, as well as nervetingling newbie ‘Sorry State’, she ensures the audience receive all the sorrow the doctor ordered, paving the way nicely for the headline act.

By the time the recently expanded Joe Allen Band reach the stage there seems to be nothing else to do, except to crank up the volume and welcome more melancholy into the mix. Cue gut-wrenching lyrics and blood-chilling guitar melodies from Joe, taut harmonies from Angharad Jenkins’ violin and thumping beats from stand-up drummer Chrissie Sheaf and it’s a wonder there aren’t physical tears being shed. Gone are the musical interludes which allowed audience to drift off and in its place are short bursts of instrumentals which seem to stab at your consciousness, ensuring every ounce of attention is devoted to the music alone. Whilst ‘Watered Down’ stands out as the song of the night, they never fail to thrill. It seems, then, that their break from the Oxford scene has been time well spent, allowing them to develop their sound, which now immerses itself in emotion and fuses feeling into every chord, rendering it truly breathtaking.

They say misery loves company and there’s seemingly no better camaraderie for all things depressing than the three talented acts witnessed at the Wheatsheaf tonight. Nevertheless, despite the melancholic nature of the gig, somehow the music seems to turn even this bleakest of evenings into a heart-warming affair, using music the way it was intended; to capture the essence of human emotion, be that happy or sad.
- Nightshift