Arriving to a gig early can bring rewards. Newcastle-based Andrew Cushin landed the prestigious slot of supporting The Slow Readers Club at the Albert Hall in Manchester with a set that impressed the many who arrived early.
Cushin had an uphill mountain to climb: The Slow Readers Club were playing in front of a home crowd and probably were not interested in seeing anyone else, though after Cushin’s thirty minute set everybody’s ears had been treated to this exciting new talent from the North East.
Normally he plays with a full band, tonight it was just him and his acoustic guitar as he songs were stripped bare to reveal the starkness of their subject matter of growing up in Newcastle.
Get Me Out of This Town opened up his set with a song that set the agenda for the rest of his set. His voice reminded me slightly of Roy Stride from Scouting For Girls though Cushin is more influenced by Oasis it would seem.
“Are there any Geordie’s in the house tonight?” he asks and is taken aback when two Newcastle accents affirm that there are.
Walls Come Tumbling Down seemed to be about a father and son relationship whilst the Newcastle United fan seems destined to have a hit with Yeah Yeah Yeah.
As he closed his short set with Where’s My Family Gone Cushin had done his job of warming up the audience with flying colours.
If he is this good on his own, wait to you see him with a full band. A name to discover indeed.
