Checked out the Shadwell solo performance on Wednesday December 28, 2011 at the Middle East Upstairs Room in Cambridge. Shadwell’s set was sprinkled with a few originals from his full length aptly titled Shadwell release and also included a couple of covers by Prince and The Beatles.
Since Shadwell was a last-minute add to start off the night of 4 scheduled acts, there were only about a dozen people in the audience. At the onset, Shadwell wasted no time in capturing the attention of all 12 people, including the sound engineer. Quipped with a couple of musical questions that came with a free beer for the correct answer, some very charming wit and very open banter with the crowd, the set was astounding. The solo styling of Shadwell isn’t the typical pedestrian act of a singer and a guitar. While at its core, this is the foundation of his show but Shadwell is very seasoned in his performance and the raw emotion of each song is quite enchanting. A couple of moments had Shadwell saying, “Can you believe I forgot the fucking words!”. Most performers who do not have vast stage experience would be shattered at forgetting the lyrics, nevermind making light of it to the audience. Very brazen indeed which brought back memories of everyone from Dean Martin to David Lee Roth who have had that instance on stage that turned a lapse of memory into another great moment that just further captures the hearts of those in attendance.
While all of the originals were full of emotion with their own peaks and valleys, Prince’s “When Doves Cry” really showed Shadwell’s talents as a performer. Most artists may have opted for a more conventional approach in covering this song but Shadwell boldly made what is an already vulnerable song even more tender by just performing it with his guitar relying on his emotion and clever use of space as well as audience participation. Equally brilliant was “Eleanor Rigby” which was a fitting upbeat close to his set. All in all Shadwell’s performance was great and by the attention received by all in the audience it was quite evident that new fans were born. What started as a very frigid December evening quickly turned into a very hot night with the help of Shadwell’s talents.
Well done!
For the uninitiated, please check out Shadwell’s site.
