The Beat Surrender

Stephen Fretwell was one of the headliners for the bank holiday weekend three-day music special planned by Leeds City Council to celebrate the city’s 800th birthday. A bit of background to Mr Fretwell, he was born in Scunthorpe in 1981 moving to Greater Manchester in 2000. At this time he started to write music and soon dropped out to concentrate on this. In the past he has supported Elbow, Keane, Travis, Athlete, KT Tunstall, Oasis and more recently Morning Runner. Debut album Magpie was released in November 2004, singles from this album did very well especially Emily.

Support on the night was provided by Stephanie Doser (I think) anyway she was a very petit blonde lady who’s guitar was nearly the same size as her. However the voice wasnt as small as expected and she carried off the support act ok. Great comedy with the audience, she seemed very impressed with the sight of men dressed as pirates or prostitutes (she must have got to the venue via the same route I took) Headingley on a Friday evening can be a frightening experience for anyone unused to such sights.

I’d been told to expect a mop of ginger hair, however since those pictures he must have had a tidy up in the hair region because when Stephen Fretwell came on stage my immediate thought was Football Hooligan! However once the music started all thoughts of football vanished. Opening track was San Francisco Blues, from the current EP (Four Letter Words) nice start to the gig but for whatever reason seemed a little lack lustre. However as we moved to the next track which was from the new album (Man on the Roof) things start to look up the whole sound seems to get better the more he plays. Loved the lyrics “She’s holding court down every street we walk” The anguish in the vocals is so obvious it almost hurts.

For someone who sings about misery and sad stuff he’s quite amusing, he starts to tell the audience he’s in far too good a mood to be playing these miserable songs! He then moved on to Run which is from the last album (Magpie) unlike some of the other tracks this doesn’t seem to have a story to it, but a good chorus which made it really easy to listen to. At this point he stops then starts a song which never really got introduced (fine if you know the artist well, which I am ashamed to say I don’t, but this will change) then started to tell a tale about how his father told him to put in some pauses but he didn’t like to because he was enjoying him self so much, but he didn’t want the audience to think he is was rushing.

The song turns out to be What’s that you say little girl. This is a great one gets a few in the audience singing along in parts and I find myself swaying and trying to join in. He has a Dylan-esque nasal delivery in general but its particularly evident on this song. Then we have one of the highlights of the gig, unfortunately I don’t think Stephen Fretwell enjoys this one, but perhaps it was just a little joke. He introduced Emily by saying that next was a song he had been trying to get rid of for years, but it keeps following him. The lyrics are beautiful, sad and tragic all at the same time. This I have heard before and can join in with most of the crowd if not singing then definitely swaying. Stephen Fretwell is a crafted guitar player who puts this down to teaching himself while listening to Dylan.

We then have the addition of the electric bass, more banter with the audience which can be annoying particularly if you are sat or stood at the back, however Stephen Fretwell seemed aware of this and was at pains to point this out. nice touch. Next track was another one of my favourites another new song Darling Don’t, the bass didn’t seem to take anything away from the lovely sound of the acoustic guitar and the lyrics to seem to connect all the hopes and dreams of the listener. A fiddle player joins them on stage (almost a band)! Next stand out track for me was again from the album (Magpie) Bad, Bad You, Bad, Bad Me, really got the audience moving along, not sure if I had heard this before, but the lyrics are so simple and easy going its hard not to join in.

The band now expands to include a Metronome! for the new song Bumper Cars, great beat, however for the first time the music overpowers the vocals, this prompt the crowd to get nosier (or was that just around me) for some reason a small group decide to start eating crisps loudly (a bit like popcorn in the cinema, however perhaps I should have expected this as the venue is after all a social club)! He now introduces the first track on the new album which I am sure he said was called Almost Crazy, toe tapping, boom cha cha boom all a little bit Chas and Dave. It doesn’t seem to go down too well with the crowd as the talking around me seems louder than ever, so much so I couldn’t always catch the lyrics which was a great shame.

Now up comes the best track of the evening for me, unfortunately I don’t think I caught the title, whatever it is it should be the next single in around a months time. Think it was Scar but I wouldn’t swear to this. Great strong chorus, fabulous lyrics, seems louder than the earlier tracks but the vocals increased in straight, great beat throughout. Next track was a past hit again from Magpie, New York. He made a joke about dedicating this to his cousins as last time he played this in Leeds his Mum and Dad were in the audience and he was worried about swearing in front of his Mum, then goes on to say he shouldn’t have worried as she’s rough and smokes 40 a day! Lyrics tell a tale of dreams of moving away from dreary lives to the “place I heard on the radio, never sleeps” a gloriously engaging song that left a wistful smile on everyone’s face.

Last track is What from the current EP (Four Letter Word). I love how one man and an acoustic guitar can be so engaging, loved how relaxed he is with the music and himself. Massive applause and quick as a flash he’s back, (hate it when they keep you waiting for what will always be a planned encore). This time I really didn’t catch the title of the song, partly because of the banter which seems to be a permanent fixture of Stephen Fretwell concerts but perhaps it didn’t matter because this was the only disappointing track for me, very slow, wanted it to speed up but it didn’t.

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