Concert Review: Fletcher Valentine, Wine Cellar, 7 November 2020

Experimental pop music artist and singer songwriter Fletcher Valentine played to an enthusiastic crowd at the Wine Cellar last night. Valentine is an up and coming artist who is creating a positive, heartfelt version of pop electra, definitely an artist to watch.

Kicking off the night, songstress Lilly Carron and her accompanist, James on guitar. After some nervous laughter, the duo proceeded to entertain the crowd with a set of bittersweet, mellow pop music, well suited to the intimate space of the venue. Lilly’s vocal performance was strong and edged with emotion, and was effectively accompanied by James’ steady, mellow guitar.

They ended their set with their most recent song ‘Ugly Cry’, a poignant and memorable work which strongly displayed Lilly’s vocal capacity. They announced that Ugly Cry will be available to stream on Spotify shortly.

Soon after, Valentine took to the stage, opening his set with an energetic, electro pop tune which the audience responded to with enthusiastic cheers. Rich layers of sound reverberated throughout the intimate venue space and a mellow, joyful atmosphere was established.

The audience was patient and respectful when a technological mishap cut the third song ‘Gun Metal’ short, and the energy was picked up again later on through the set with Valentine performing a range of more guitar based material such as Blue Divide and Skirt, drawing some enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

At the end of Valentine’s performance, a passionate request by the audience for an encore was quickly accepted. A successful revisit of Gun Metal was the closing song and ended with lively, supportive cheers from the crowd.

~Charlotte Lovrin