So eight years following Sam Duckworth, aka Get Cape Wear Cape Fly had led us to Kentish Town Forum where the referee had drawn a shave-foam line beyond which GCWCF will never cross. Truly the end of a chapter - a chapter that started ten years ago when troubadour Sam, then struggling in non-league began his ascendancy to the Premiership. Tonight truly marked the 'Last Ever' GCWCF show but, this is not a question of Sam Duckworth going into retirement, quite the opposite; what Sam has in his sights is to defend this free-kick, hit on the counter-attack and, score a hatful of goals.
We know this is entirely possible evidencing the releases of the last 2-3 years under Sam Duckworth's own name, but tonight was more a backward glance to the GCWCF-era.
The evening's supporting bill allowed a glance to the future, a nod to the past and a massive statement of the here and now. First up was Sean McGowan with cheeky swagger and fulsome praise for how great a bloke Sam truly is. X-Certs were on next, taking us back to early GCWCF collaborations. Wonderful Idlewild-like lyrical prose with superbly-executed thumping guitar. Jehst took the stage by storm with his top-notch rapping. Reminded us what eclectic value we had within the ticket price. It's difficult to take your eyes of this man.
And so to GCWCF. Tonight's show was a culmination of a mini UK tour of classic venues. We were lucky enough to have witnessed the Southampton Joiners event, a highly sweaty affair, with Sam belting out his 'Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager' album accompanied by beat box, just like the early days. Tonight’s affair boasted a full band line-up supporting Sam through his 16 song set, incorporating the whole of his 2006 album. In contrast to the excellent yet raw Joiners set the songs were delivered with pomp through the 4-strong brass section including fantastic lead-man 'Mikey' on cornet.
A Shy FX dj set followed the Get Cape show, a reminder, as if we needed it, that rock n roll can be (and should be) multi-dimensional.
Si
