He’s a strummer, he’s a storyteller, he’s a heartstring-puller and he’s so very likeable.
Gregory Alan Isakov’s show was exactly like you might expect - quietly mesmerising, deeply moving and yet somehow fun and funny and life-affirming.
The stage set-up (at The Triffid 6 March) was so simple; just himself flanked by his band – “his best friends” as he explained to us at the start. Mostly in darkness, the stage was lit up by soft beams of lights that illuminated a circle around each man.
The crowd were quiet, watching, swaying, singing sweetly along under their breath and clapping with appreciation at the end of each song.
He talked a little between songs, telling the title of the track or reminiscing about a story or walking us through a memory related to the song. And the whole experience felt like we were all sitting around in his log cabin back home, hot whiskey in hand while snow fell outside, heads nodding along to the beat.
It takes something special to be able to create such a depth of sound from a few instruments and a small group of voices - yet that’s exactly what they did.
And it was magical. And reminded you of the gentle magic that flows through our world, and the beauty in grief and the joy in love.
