Altsounds - Horse Feathers [Live] @ The Stock Room

The night of the gig at The Stock Room in Sheffield and it was empty. Horse Feathers were stood playing to each other with intensity and concentration. I have been a fan of Horse Feathers for years and there I was stood listening, soaking up this solitary band all to myself. I would like to say I was being serenaded, but if I’m honest with myself, I was intruding on a sound check. The reason I was lucky enough to see this was due to my wonderfully ambitious partner who decided to put on Horse Feathers due to a gap in their tour dates. My role in gig preparation was minimal/reflected glory, but still, I believe that gave me sufficient status to look busy whilst secretly in awe of this band setting up around me, suppressing the desire to run up saying, ‘OH my god you’re ACTUALLY here in front of me. Your teeth are bigger in real life.’

Three other acts were lined up to support. The first to play was Tom Hulme, a friend from Sheffield who played the most elegant blues folk picking I have ever witnessed. The other two were Kristin McClement and Birdengine came all the way up from Brighton for this gig. When Kristin came on she suggested the crowd sat, as standing is ‘not too good.’ She played a warming set to a crowd sitting cross legged before her. Attentively they looked up as she sang stories of folklore with a delicate classical guitar. I was happy to see the ‘sitting’ theme carried on through the night, it gave the gig such a relaxed feel. I was thrown back to days of primary school, when our merry teacher would play us songs about Our Saviour the Lord Jesus as we all sat in a circle (oblivious to the Christian brainwashing) and sang along. Not that Kristin was brainwashing us. Or maybe she was washing our brains with beautiful melodies, or a similar, less weird metaphor. Birdengine came on after with a bewitching set of haunting and mystical songs. Slow harmonies on the guitar slipped into discordant notes before agreeing once more.

Horse Feathers came on fronted by Justin Ringle on guitar, backed by Nathan Crocket on violin and saw, and Catherine O’Dell who played cello. Horse Feathers were about half way through a non-stop UK tour, so they seemed a little run down, and were maybe a little put off as this was the smallest venue they played. Their set started a little slowly, the cello and violin set up a minimal American folk rhythm, while Justin sang lightly over the top. They went straight into new songs starting with ‘curs in the weeds.’ But even with spot on harmonies and perfect timing, they just seemed to be a little passionless, and bit forced. However, as they followed into old songs such as the beautiful ‘working poor’ and ‘blood on snow’ the quiet build ups became more heartfelt, the stompy breakthroughs didn’t need a drum kit, and Justin generally let his hair down. He even broke his guitar string in the final song. And after professing that he was unable to play an encore to the cheering crowd, an acoustic guitar was thrust in his face. Horse Feather’s final two songs were played entirely acoustically. The sound guy shut off the speakers, and Justin crouched on the floor with the crowd sitting around him. His voice carried pitch perfect over the silent crowd, and the wailing's of the saw emphasized the anguish of the lyrics. It was a truly moving and intimate encore- Horse Feathers had the crowd in a trance.

They may have at first seemed a little apathetic, but the final songs turned it around. Maybe Horse Feathers are getting a little too big for their boots, which is never a nice thing to learn about a great band, but I guess that shouldn’t impede on my opinion of their music. Horse Feathers can serenade me anytime.