Carl North & The Lonely Hearts sell-out The Eagle Inn

Coral Daniels | 25th February 2018

Could Carl North & The Lonely Hearts be the next band to bring a niche genre into the mainstream?

Mumford and Sons did it with folk and so did The Shires for country, so it can happen and after the show they put on it’s definitely possible.

Last night was full of soul-soothing music, at their sell-out gig, in The Eagle Inn.

The quaint venue was literally packed wall-to-wall, making for quite a cramped experience, but it is great sign for the band’s growing success. They’ve only been together since the end of last year.

The lights around the stage and going up the mic stands gave an almost Christmassy impression to the set.

Opening the night was Joshua Goddard, a singer- song writer, whose raspy tone is comparable to James Morrison.

It was just him and his acoustic guitar on stage.

That might sound a little dull and the silence in the audience might lead you to think they weren’t enjoying it, but the silence was an indication of respect.

It was even praised by Goddard, who clearly appreciated the fact he had their un-divided attention.

That silence was vanquished with applause however, as the songs ended.

He also had a sense of humour too,when people got ahead of themselves singing along to his cover of ‘Be My Baby’, by The Ronnettes, he told them: “Hey, that’s my bit.”

He also said : “It’s like assembly innit. You try to be quiet and get the giggles”. In response to a few people laughing at the front.

He’s got a new song coming out, called ‘Sunday Morning’, which he played. Coincidently, it’s perfect for listening to on an easy Sunday morning, as are all his other songs.

Then came a first for Manchester.

The second set was from Anna Leone, a Swedish singer-song writer.This was her first time in Manchester.

Again, it was just her and an acoustic guitar. She opened with ‘My Soul I’.

Have a listen here:

Despite having a husky tone to her voice, it’s still got a spine-tingling fragility to it.

Her set went straight through to your soul. Even though, it was stripped back and simple in style, as was Goddard’s, it was still powerful.

Barring the odd shuffle out to the bar, the audience were captivated up and down stairs.

To improve her presence though, she could consider making eye-contact with the crowd. She stared at the back wall throughout, which meant it wasn’t as intimate as it could have been.

She wasn’t particularly chatty either, in comparison to Goddard, she just got on with it.

‘If You Only’ is going to be her next single, which is sure to do well. She already has over 460,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Then the pace really picked up for Carl North & The lonely Hearts. This was a little relieving too, as another person singing with a guitar would have been boring by this point.

Incase you were starting to doze off, the drummer whacked out a solo to wake you up before they burst into ‘Badamn’.

This was the first performance to have a full band and the change in atmosphere was noticeable. It went from a respectful silence, to shaking what your mumma gave you, whether you were a petite female or tall bald guy.

They moved onto their debut single ‘Worst Of You’.

 You can listen to it below:

Carl North’s struggle for breath between songs demonstrated how much effort the band put in. They were all very into the music. To the point where you wanted the guitarist to go get a room for him and his guitar.

They were the first to make the experience interactive too; getting people to sing lines back to them during a song, or clapping along. The increase in movement also meant it was starting to heat up too.

They also threw in some surprises, by doing things they don’t normally do.

They tested out a new song which got its first play live. Then they also took it down slow for ‘Pearl’. This was because Carl North was a lone wolf, previous to finding The Lonely Hearts; this track was from that time.

‘Mama’ was also a little different too. This was the first time in the set that Anna Wilkes’ voice was truly utilised.

In most of the songs she seemed like a spare part; just adding in backing vocals and playing the tambourine.

This was disheartening, because their voices complimented each other so well; it would have been nice to hear more of her. That’s why ‘Mama’ was especially ace.

‘Funk’ was supposed to be their penultimate song, but, an encore meant they still had a few more up their sleeves.

They did the classic thank yous to everyone behind the scenes and finished with a great mash-up of ‘Goldigga’ and ‘I’ve Got A Women’.

The fact this show sold-out and chants of ‘we want more’ were instantaneous at the end of their set, means they will not be going anywhere. They’re here to stick around.

If you fancy listening to something a bit different then check them out at their next Manchester headline show in June, at Night People.

Setlist:

  • Badamn
  • Worst of You
  • New song
  • Latin
  • Pearl
  • Off Guard
  • Mama
  • Got My Mojo Working (Muddy Waters cover)
  • Funk
  • Blood To Bleed
    -encore-
  • Thorn in Your Side
  • Goldigga / I’ve Got A Woman (cover)