There's a danger in having three support bands on before the headliners that things might get a bit tedious - especially if the supports are stylistically similar - and the audience weary before the headliners take to the stage. No such risk with tonight's lineup, which is certainly varied, but, equally impressive, of a generally high standard.
The Wicker Trio, reduced to a duo, serve up a pleasant set of acoustic indie delivered with an endearing sincerity; The Dark Roads belt out a set of guitar-driven rock 'n' roll at one helluva volume, occasionally cranking out some searing riffage, while Fox N' North give us some stripped back dirty electric blues that's a real howl of anguish and seriously bloody good.
None of these share much common ground with Last Harbour, who are here on the last nigh of their tour in support of their fourth studio album, 'Volo,' which has been accruing some extremely positive press. Hell, yeah, they're good. The Nick Cave comparisons are entirely justified where Kevin Craig's vocals are concerned, and many of their songs also possess that understated, sombre, moody drama that typifies much of Cave's output. Other times (and I mean this by no means disparagingly), I find myself thinking that they sound not unlike a folk-tinged Editors.
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The violins lend a brooding depth to the sound, and while the utmost in restraint is displayed across the eight songs played tonight - beginning with 'Lights' and concluding with 'Mount Analogue' - in that there are no crushing crescendos or bursts of noise, there's no shortage of tension or texture.
They play from the heart and Kevin weaves some touching narratives. As such, I'm perplexed. Ok, so it's Sunday night and a portion of the crowd invariably drifts after they've seen 'their' band's support slot, but the attendance really doesn't reflect the quality of Last Harbour's performance. Those who have remained to the end are clearly enjoying the show, and I find myself wondering how they've not registered on my radar sooner (three previous albums is a reasonable body of work not to notice). Perhaps it's simply that Last Harbour are a band who command a passionate and dedicated response from a small audience. I'd argue that they deserve more - even if they do leave us without an encore. Still, sometimes less is definitely more.
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