Two 19 year olds from Ponteland opened for Jools Holland at the City Hall last night. Hannah and Grace Stobart are Twayn, as creative and individual in their combined talents as musicians in command of their soaring voices. Comfortable and yet excited in their united persona, they engaged 2000 people and that enchantment, evident in the attention given to them and all the subsequent star guests, from Toby Lee, to Mark Almond and Ruby Turner.
Whether, the superb quality of individual virtuosity from Jools or members of his band and backing singers, one by one they stepped up to the highest standards expected by such an appreciative and knowledgeable audience. Twayn were exceptional in their opening songs, ballads, heart felt and meaning rich, experienced life and confident verse. They sustained the listener as each contrasting melody, was made ever richer as they sung in harmony, sometimes in joy, melancholy or sorrow.
Following Twayn
I liked them so much I bought the album, Twayn Live. Sweet 16, and my personal favourite XOXO, are expressions of earnest emotional intensity, the emotional tuning, that all young people, scan through on their way to finding empathic souls on their own wavelength. Whether you follow them on apps like Spotify or TikTok, inevitably their audience have the highest sound quality delivered straight to their ears via headphone or speaker. It is through the silent following of lyrics on the back of an album, the replay of the record, that concordant themes resonate with the listener and a new value is attached to the music made live. This is the strength of Twayn, originality.
Twayn, plus Isaac on guitar, deserved every round of applause. The input of other musicians like Jools and his band are fertile ground to nurture this emerging talent; I look forward to their appearance on Later, with Jools; they have passed the live test surely? They will strike a chord internationally, it is simply a matter of time, devotion to their art and the support of live venues. Europe is the way forward to build that fan base. They need that boarding pass on a live programme, it’s what dreams are made of. Jools, set out his stall as a band leader of old, Cab Calloway-like he made that audience work and raised his band and singers to exalted voice. A great night from start to finish.
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