A beautiful hot sunny day gives way to a beautiful but chilly evening. Time to throw another hippy on the fire, sip a brandy and settle down with a heart-warming, life affirming schmooze from everyone’s favourite miserableists Nottingham’s Tindersticks.
Opener ‘Trying To Find’ displays a light, gentle assurity that sets the tone. Never easy listening, never ones for squeezing the soul, wringing the rock out of their songs, The Tindersticks breath their perfect melodies, perfect arrangements, damaged, confessional lyrics into fresh Somerset air and create magic.
Cruelly honest, cruelly insightful. More life confirming than affirming. From ‘Travelling Light’ off this years ‘Working For The Man’, to the final encore ‘Tiny Tears’ the crowd is captivated. ‘It’s hard to turn the opposite way tonight.’
What Stuart Staples doesn’t know about exploring every sad, bad thought and experience of emotional and relationship breakdown doesn’t exist.’ Staples is a man with the ability and maybe more importantly the courage to dare say what most of us are honestly unable to express. “I’m ok for you to see the state of me” he sings on Drunk Tank. “The edges of our love are in the stars” sings Staples on a stunning ‘My Oblivion’ adorned with trademark vibes. Never has hurt and the questions that surround regret sounded so good.
The quietest, most delicate and most articulate of primal screams. Beautiful.