Johnny Flynn, The Cluny, Newcastle
- Written by Lee Hammond
Not only is Johnny Flynn a superbly talented musician but he has trodden the boards in the west end and starred on both the big and the small screen. However, this evening his music is purely the focus of our attention. And as we arrive slightly later than intended, we unfortunately miss Cosmo Sheldrake who is also member of Johnny Flynn’s backing band, The Sussex Wit.
For us its been a long time since we’ve heard anything from Johnny, it's an almost faint memory of the heady days when the Mystery Jets and The Young Knives were at their best and Larrikin Love were constantly on tour. Fortunately for us, unlike many of those above, Johnny Flynn has not abandoned his roots and still plays many of the tracks from his acclaimed debut. At the same time there are a number of new tracks on show this evening too, opening up with ‘The Ghost Of O’Donahue’, a pleasantly upbeat song that gets the crowd warmed up just before the arrival of the rest of The Sussex Wit, most of whom are waiting in the wings throughout the duration. The equally upbeat ‘Cold Bread’ sees the arrival of the rest of his backing band, much to the crowds delight. Johnny sings with a typically thick southern accent much like many of his contemporaries.
Johnny effortlessly switches between guitar, mandolin and violin throughout the set proving that he's truly multi-talented. His songs are so beautifully written and full of heart with ‘Einstein’s Idea’ from new album CountryMile being particularly beautiful. The set moves through a variety of peaks and troughs. From the epic sounding title track of CountryMile, to the terrifically upbeat ‘The Box whilst in the next breath dropping the tone with tracks like ‘The Lady Is Risen,’ and even with all of these peaks and troughs the set flows beautifully. The Sussex Wit provide the perfect backdrop to Johnny’s great vocals and the crowd are also particularly attentive, as is often required in parts of these kinds of shows. Overall this evening is a testament to time and this evening sounds as fresh as it did in 2008. We have certainly missed Johnny Flynn's brand of southern folk; all we hope is that his stage and screen careers don’t take over again thus taking his focus away from his awesome music, because he is truly a shining light in the British folk scene.