JACOB GOLDEN +
KIDD DYNAMO
London 12 Bar Club
6th September 2001
Kidd Dynamo is basically one guy from Northern Ireland and this is his first time in London. Although KD has functioned as a band, tonight it is just Colin and his acoustic guitar. This is a suitably intimate venue for solo performers and he comes across very well. I've never heard anything other than the full band demo of 'I Am A Landslide' on the Belfest compilation CD last year, so I wasn't sure what to expect. One thing is for certain though, I didn't expect him to be this good! Although I haven't heard any of the material before, the important thing that it sounds strong enough when performed solo. If you're looking for references, I would lazily suggest the songs of people like Mark Eitzel, Mark Kozelek and Sparklehorse, though Kidd Dynamo sounds like himself. He proves this when he covers 'Teenage Kicks' as the last song, and it comes out sounding like one of his own. One of the tracks he played tonight will be on the next Cd with Comes With a Smile magazine, so you know what to do.
The guy playing afterwards does my head in, so I have to be coaxed out of the bar to see headliner Jacob Golden. Although I didn't know it at the time, this new Rough Trade signing has been playing this club every Thursday for the last six weeks, so he has built up a bit of a following. It's easy to see why. His extraordinary voice is just perfect in a small room like this, and he is a more powerful performer than his recent mini-album suggests. In fact the whole 'vibe' is what I imagine an early performance by Jeff Buckley (or maybe even his dad Tim) would be like. Clearly Jeff Buckley and Miracle Legion's Mark Mulcahy are the obvious comparisons, though the songs could fit happily beside Radiohead or REM. He's a fine songwriter too, as I assume most of the material is original, although he covers two Nina Simone songs quite brilliantly ('The Other Woman' and one other I can't recall). I think at heart, Jacob Golden is very much a singer and a performer, and despite his lack of released music he plays a really long set, happy to do a couple of encores. Jump at the chance to see him, especially in a small venue like this. I'm so glad I went out tonight.
