Foy Vance & Marcus Foster - The Emperor, Cambridge - 18th June 2011 (Live Review)
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Written by Katie Territt
I'll be honest, I don't often listen to Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 show, but something tells me that fate bought me & Dermot together last week when he had new boy Marcus Foster (pictured, below) on his show performing a couple of tracks. Randomly tuning into Radio 2 and being instantly drawn to the voice, I did a bit of investigating to find out who he was, and exactly a week later I was sat in the most intimate gig I've ever been to, discovering two amazing talents that I'm so glad didn't pass me by.
London boy Marcus Foster is currently on tour supporting Northern Ireland's Foy Vance (pictured, above) and I was lucky to catch the two of them in a small room above a random pub in Cambridge. Having only heard of both artists just one week before, it hadn't taken me long to download Foy's album and Marcus' EP - and I was already addicted. It's not often that an artist can interest me so quickly, and to have two that impressed me enough to be desperate to see them live made me think I was onto something pretty special - and I wasn't remotely wrong!
A darkened room with small candles on tables and a few rows of chairs set a perfect scene for the gig, with a maximum of around 60 people taking their places, some of us lucky enough to be just two feet from the "stage" area. After a fantastic introduction about what a talent he is, Marcus Foster took to the stage armed with nothing but his acoustic guitar and his mic. From the first line of his first song, the crowd were mesmerised. His raw gravely vocal is punctuated with vulnerability as he plays his way through his impressive collection of songs, stopping briefly between to shyly comment on how intimate the gig is.
An awesome version of his current single, 'Rushes & Reeds' is a perfect advert for Marcus' talent and range, but by far, the tracks from EP 'Tumble Down' are the stand out songs, particularly 'Tumble Down' itself. Set closer 'Shadows of the City is Marcus at his best - an almost eerie start kicks into a frenzied up-tempo number, Marcus completely losing himself in the song, ignoring the fact that just a tiny amount of people are watching his every move so closely - literally!
If you're a Twilight/Robert Pattinson fan, you've probably heard the song 'Let Me Sign'. What you probably don't know is that it was co-written by Marcus Foster. Such a true talent, both vocally and lyrically, that I doubt this will be his last track to be used in a film - this guy has a huge future. Clearly the audience at the gig thought so too with his merchandise almost selling out!
So from one talent to another, main act Foy Vance took to the stage next with his soul/blues tinged songs. Taking tracks from his EP's as well as 2007's debut album 'Hope', Foy's absolutely stunning vocals were nothing but goosebump inducing. Completely drenched in soul, passion and power, he blew the crowd away with every song whether it was a gorgeous ballad or a feet tapping stormer. Big highlights for me were 'Two Shades of Hope', and the awesome 'Be With Me' which called on Foy's loop pedal to build layer upon layer of sound for an amazing huge effect pulsing through the intimate crowd.
Foy's influences are obvious throughout his set, with each song oozing a bit of his soul, blues, gospel and jazz loves. An impressive set showcasing his song writing skills, musicality and superb vocals. Like Marcus Foster, Foy has written songs for films, and one of these, 'Pain Never Hurt Me Like Love', a true bluesy number, literally drew a "wow" from me - what a song!
There's not too much more I can say about either artist without gushing all over this review. Considering I hadn't known about them a week previous, it was one of the best, most intimate and special gigs I've ever experienced. Both Marcus and Foy are raw talents and both have truly captivating and mesmerising stage presence. Simply amazing voices and fantastically beautiful songs, and to top it off they seem like really genuine, unassuming and bloody nice guys with a great sense of humour - what more could you ask for in an artist?
I can't recommend these guys highly enough. Catch them live if you can, because even though you shouldn't hesitate in buying their music, it just wouldn't compare to experiencing them live.
Marcus Foster's debut album, 'Nameless Path' is out in September and Foy Vance's album 'Hope' is available to download now.
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London boy Marcus Foster is currently on tour supporting Northern Ireland's Foy Vance (pictured, above) and I was lucky to catch the two of them in a small room above a random pub in Cambridge. Having only heard of both artists just one week before, it hadn't taken me long to download Foy's album and Marcus' EP - and I was already addicted. It's not often that an artist can interest me so quickly, and to have two that impressed me enough to be desperate to see them live made me think I was onto something pretty special - and I wasn't remotely wrong! 
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