Live Review: Newton Faulkner – 30th November 2024 – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK

Dressed casually in a baggy blue ensemble and surrounded by a collection of guitars, lit up beams and a photographer that would dart around the stage throughout the night, Hand Built By Robots hit maker Newton Faulkner wowed fans on Friday night as he made his triumphant return to the capital as part of his latest skip around the country – this time at North London’s Islington Assembly Hall.

Faulkner’s last record was 2021’s Interference Of Light, so it’s been a while since we have heard anything in the way of a studio album from the Surrey born singer-songwriter. This latest tour serves as less of a promotional exercise and more of a labour of love – just one of the things we adore about his commitment to fans and his commitment to doing his part for live music.

The night was one of both music and comedy as the guitar maestro sandwiched each song with jokes or anecdotes that had the crowd in fits of laughter. Audience interaction has always been one of the standout components to every one of the near dozen or so Newton Faulkner shows we have attended over the years and Friday night was no different.

Orchestrating the crowd during his performance of Orange Skies, the musician divided the crowd into three sections, labelling it as a Viennetta and encouraging each section of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry to sing a specific harmony for the track. The perfect crowd ice-breaker if ever there was one.

Pick Up Your Broken Heart carried a heavy radio friendly quality to it while Long Shot, which Faulkner described as not performing for a long time before this current tour, created a sudden stillness over the crowd as each person held intently onto the singers crisp and seasoned vocals as that rang through the intimate Islington venue.

Earworm single Clouds was a mid-set highlight with the musician injecting a heavy recorded synth backbone to the catchy hit while early penning Gone In The Morning remains unaged with the crowd singing along to the solo star positioned perfectly centre within the framed stage.

One of Faulkner’s many strengths as a musician has always his confident showmanship and that come through the most during his most quirky numbers like Professional Dog Food Taster, where he described being told by a record label executive that the penning would be a hit, to which Faulkner told the crowd in a comical voice, “incorrect”.

Telling his fans “Growing up ginger and hairy I thought that sexy was reserved for other people” and that “this is considered my sexiest song”, before diving into Finger Tips from 2017’s Hit The Ground Running also had the crowd in giggles and shouting back comments like “You’re a 10” to a bemused but appreciative star.

It was of course the singer-songwriters more commercial successes that struck the most resounding chords with fans during Fridays impressive performance. His still spectacular cover of Massive Attacks Teardrop had phones in the air filming the guitar tapping/strumming/flicking early highlight of the show while signature hit, Dream Catch Me welcomed a friend on stage with electric hair clippers in hand as she went about shaving the remaining dreadlocks off the once-fully dreadlocked musician in support of Teenage Cancer Trust. As this was happening the singer delivered one of the best live versions of the Hand Built By Robots staple that we have heard at a Newton Faulkner show. A truly mesmerising, iconic and full circle moment for us as fans and for Faulkner as he joked on stage about whether his fans thought his head was misshapen now that he was bald.

As fans of the star since the release of his very first single it was great to revisit some of the songs that Faulkner has included on this tour and to see a musician who seems to only be getting better – as a vocalist,  guitarist and a showman – with every tour he delivers.

Setlist:
Where to Start
Orange Skies
Pick Up Your Broken Heart
Long Shot
Teardrop (Massive Attack cover)
Finger Tips
Professional Dog Food Taster
Don’t Make Me Beg
Dream Catch Me
Clouds
Never Enough
Gone In The Morning
Brick by Brick
Four Leaf Clover
Write It on Your Skin