Frank Hamilton
The Arches, Glasgow 21/09/2013
While standing subdued during support acts, the female-dominated audience was spurred into a chorus of screams and wolf-whistles as Frank Hamilton took his place on stage. Being likened to The Streets’ frontman Frank Skinner is just one of the compliments the folk-indie singer has been been paid by the press and judging by the welcome he received on stage he’s kind of a big deal with a certain generation. But was his live performance going to cut the mustard with the Source team?
Listening to Frank on Spotify, he comes over as yet another indie singer complete with guitar and authentic English accent. But his opening performance of Things I Do which appears on his #OneSongAWeek project proves that he, and his band, dive beyond initial impressions as they perform with emotional energy which has the audience singing along in awe.
As the set continues, Frank Hamilton’s appeal to the crowd is clear. His lyrics are catchy, but also relatable. With songs about love, friendship and break ups, Frank allows listeners to make up their own story as they tune in. Melodies, on the other hand, tend to be repetitive and a few songs follow suit of beginning as folk ballads before breaking into a slightly rockier outro.
At the set’s halfway mark, Frank brought a quirky twist to Wheatus’ Teenage Dirtbag and, despite the age difference between the song and the crowd, it’s well received. Toward the end of his set, girls’ hearts race as Frank leaves the stage to perform an acoustic number amongst his supporters.
Gigging is clearly more than just a job to Frank – it’s his passion and is evident via the palpable smile he wears while performing and sincere thanks to the audience at the end of the night. He even made time for quick chat with me after the gig – look out for that later this week…
[rating=4]
