ahab. live. deaf institute.

who: ahab

where: deaf institute, manchester, uk

when: 8 may 2012

support: charlotte carpenter; hawker reunion

everyone probably has at least one band that they never get tired of seeing live. i have quite a few bands on that list and ahab are definitely one of them. full band set, acoustic, unplugged – it doesn’t matter. it always feels like they can pull of anything without even trying. so once they announced a gig at the wonderful deaf institute, the date got marked in my calendar.

compared to the last time ahab played in manchester at band on the wall, a lot of things were different this time, not counting the venue change. but having a support act, two in fact, was one of those things for example. charlotte carpenter from kettering was up first. her tender voice accompanied by an acoustic guitar seemed to be a good start to the night. some of her songs were more folk, others more pop. in general it felt like she didn’t quite show what she can actually do, so she might be worth keeping an eye on in the future. hawker reunion were up next. the two piece from manchester claims their sound to be alt folk and yes, i’d sign that statement. electric and acoustic guitars and two voices that complemented one another in a wonderful way proved to be just the right support for ahab. no matter how good they were though, a more or less happy tune surely wouldn’t hurt anyone once in a while.

the bad news came last friday when ahab’s callum adamson “announced” he was in the hospital. (almost) no harm done though, the appendix is out and he’s back home recovering from his operation, so no one had to feel guilty for enjoying themselves on tuesday night. having no lead guitarist and no drummer present meant for the rest of the band to at least try to live up to their usual show. at the risk of repeating myself, they obviously didn’t even need to try because whatever they do normally works very well.

the night started with folk-pop and alt folk and ended with alt country. ahab are often described as one of the best americana bands in the uk. judging by their live shows, i guess they can live up to that reputation. they played an impressive set of a whopping 17 songs, including a couple of new tunes. their songs are normally short (or maybe it just seems like that) and spot on. this show was the second time i’ve seen them as a 3-piece playing an acoustic set. of course the 12-string guitar was clearly missing when you’re familiar with their music but somehow the remaining band members made it work nevertheless. kicking off their set with the wonderful lucy and then slowly playing their way through a selection of their best tunes including all-time favourite lightning bug, the catchy call a waiter, the as always beautiful million reasons and a brilliant cover of wagon wheel. clearly the new songs were the highlight of the night though. neighbours, wild mouth, why are you so sad and it hurts were all different but equally beautiful each in their own way. a powerful performance of rosebud with seebs llewellyn on lead vocals then was the perfect end to their main set. but what makes ahab’s music actually so amazing? besides the obvious like gorgeous lyrics, it’s their stunning harmonies which were particularly great during why are you so sad (luke price on lead vocals) and my father’s eyes (dave burn on lead vocals), which they performed unplugged and in the middle of the audience as an encore. and i gotta say, it’s actually pretty brave to get people clapping along when you’re off mic but their voices are all so strong that the audience probably could’ve made a lot more noise and it wouldn’t have mattered at all. all in all, a night out seeing ahab live is always a guarantee for a great time – regardless of how many band members are actually on stage. 

setlist:

lucy

lightning bug

wish you

docker's hands

wagon wheel

run me down

call a waiter

neighbours

wild mouth

why are you so sad

it hurts

to the light

joanna

million reasons

womans arms

rosebud

encore:

my father's eyes (unplugged)

from left to right: seebs llewellyn, luke price and dave burn