Mr Fogg was not at all what I was expecting. I certainly was not expecting the unassuming Phil Barry to walk out on stage. But as soon as he sat down at the keyboard his soaring vocals accompanied by lyrical cello and violin won me over. If you are a fan of later Radiohead then Mr Fogg’s set will delight you.
Some beautiful animations and some short films of contemporary dancers moving to his songs accompany the otherworldly indie music.
We are a very small but appreciative audience and it feels as if we should be sitting in a pub rather than here in a studio theatre but Mr Fogg shows humility and a wry sense of humour and quickly wins this audience over. Some beautiful animations and some short films of contemporary dancers moving to his songs accompany the otherworldly indie music.
According to Wikipedia, he is the Grandson of an Opera Singer and the Great Grandson of two nineteenth century music hall performers. You can clearly hear the influence of opera and he demonstrated his musical talent by moving backwards and forwards between the keyboard and a small organ, although I preferred the songs backed by the keyboard. If you have ever heard any of Mr Fogg’s songs before it will probably have been his first single Keep Your Teeth Sharp which he treats us to tonight. Other songs that stood out were the title track of the show Youth, Scarecrow and Stay out of the Sun that had an intriguing, ethereal music video accompanying it.
Mr Fogg has clearly been on the cusp of making it in the music business for a while and tells us he almost gave up and his wry bitterness at the industry does stand out. I don’t think his melancholic style is ever going to win over everyone, but I for one hope he keeps at it. He deserves that big break.
