Fossil Collective Live Review

Fossil Collective- Liverpool Leaf 11/10/13

While I’m away on breaks visiting cities either here in Britain or Europe I like to catch some live music and discover new venue's so lucky for me a band that had been highly recommended were playing The Leaf on Liverpool's Bold Street . A spacious venue spread over two floors that has old quirky features and was originally the Queens Hall Theatre. The ground floor is now a laid back stylish tearoom, whilst the venue upstairs still has the vast theatre walls and ceiling with what looks like a solar system of glitter balls dangling from it.

By the time tonight's head-liners take to the stage to a soundscape intro the venue is busy and the atmosphere is warming up nicely. The 5-piece greet us with the stunning Under my arrest from their highly acclaimed debut album Tell me where I lie. In my mind they create a wintry vibe with delicate harmonies and it's lo-fi feel. The album's opener follows with lead man David Fendick saying “Your a friendly bunch, it must be the weekend” before the Fleet foxes sounding E.P and Album opener Let it go lifts the appreciative crowd with it's warm Americana vocals as rich as a Christmas pudding, a dessert I could enjoy every night. The band play along like they have toured together for decades.

Wolves begins with another atmospheric intro before I hear a touch of Midlake and early Nicks/Buckingham Fleetwood Mac with it's tight crafted sound and beautiful harmonies.Drummer and original multi instrumentalist member Johnny Hooker takes the mic baton and say's “This is the scary bit, a new song” Half Light follows from their new The Water E.P.  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-water-ep/id714681962  while the lead guitarist adds a slide guitar groove. 

And if you go is introduced again by Fendick as Half light, a small mistake we'll let him off with. Bass player Antonio swaps for a cello which we're told was purchased by him exclusively for this tour.

By the time Monument begins one member of the crowd gets annoyed with the constant talking of some rude folk near the back, their told to be quiet. Rightly so for music so breathtakingly lush like this we need to experience it the way it was made to be heard. The tune with it's choir like vocals and lo-fi Bon Iver style draws us in before turning up a notch to epic heights; like walking slowly through a snow clad wood in to a scenic clearing, I'm totally absorbed by the cinematic widescreen sound.

How was I to know is one man and his guitar taking a solitary stance in the spotlight, delicate acoustic notes and dreamy vocals ring out. The set ends with The Magpie a galloping runaway horse feel with ukulele strumming, haunting vocals mid section before picking up to a sonic reverb crescendo.

“This is where we usually walk off before the encore, but there's nowhere to go” so they introduce a cover they recorded for The Voice Project, a quality folk rock interpretation of The Flaming Lips 'Do you Realise ' They finish with a couple of tracks from early E.P's Rivers Edge and Satellite where Fendick says “This is when Johnny gets to play with his plastic toy (keyboard with mouthpiece )

By the end of the gig I am the proud owner of a signed copy of their debut album on Red Vinyl and after what I have heard tonight I am looking forward to playing it out on my turntable in it's entirety , many times.