Many thanks once again to Dave Champion for another music review, this time from the excellent Johnny Flynn gig last week. Ed
St Catherine’s Church in Ventnor played host to Johnny Flynn on Thursday 12th of August, performing as part of Jack Whitewood’s Ventnor Fringe Festival.
Supported by Paul Armfield and Mike Champion, he performed a stripped-down, intimate set, playing alone with just his resonator guitar.
When Flynn took to the stage his timid and boyishly shy demeanour instantly charmed the audience.
Captivating talent
However, this withdrawn and modest character disappeared with the first note of ‘Brown Trout Blues’ as the power and sheer volume of his voice erupted, filling the vast church hall with sound and entirely gripping the audience.
His voice is one which belies his youth, and its rich tones conjure images of the sea, nature and times gone by.
He worked through songs from his first album ‘A Larum’ and his latest album ‘Been Listening’, released in June.
Complex picking, rapid and frequent chord changes, and hammer-on-heavy guitar playing made for genuinely entertaining viewing and captivating listening.
Well received by the audience
Each song was met by rapturous applause from the 170 strong capacity crowd, praise which Flynn took with a look of modesty that verged on embarrassment.
A small portion of the audience crammed down between the pews at the front in order to get a better view of the performer. Flynn himself described this as a kind of ’embrace’.
Johnny’s charm shone through further when he not once but twice forgot the lyrics to his own song because a ‘thought’ came in to his head. The fact that he managed to make the entire audience smile with these mistakes is testament to his charisma as a performer.
Last requests
A request came from the audience when he was about to play his last song. “Wayne Rooney” to which he kindly obliged, capping off his performance beautifully, and truly reflecting the friendly and relaxed feel of the entire evening.
Flynn’s performance displayed what can be achieved with simply a voice and a guitar, and the strength of his song writing makes performances such as this a true spectacle.
A terrific evening in fitting with the genius and success of Jack Whitewood’s Ventnor Fringe Festival.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Bridie Riley
