Stunning show by songsmith Ewan

Sep 1 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

LEADING Scottish songsmith Ewan MacFarlane made a welcome return to Perth for the annual A Month of Sundays mini-festival.

A regular visitor to Greyfriars Bar and the original host of the venue’s open mic nights, Ewan has been absent for a few months while touring Europe with Apollo 440 and working in the studio.

He marked his return with a performance in which the eloquence and rasping soulfulness familiar to the fans who packed the tiny South Street bar combined with a new vitality to produce a quite stunning show.

Support was provided by Glasgow singer/songwriter Davie Rollo, who was on top form as he presented a set of self-penned numbers filled with his trademark wit and insight.

The sharp observational humour of songs such as People Watching complemented the more personal The Sun Shines Out, and contrasted with Too Sad Too Happy, a modern protest song smouldering with mature anger.

After listening respectfully to these numbers, the audience went into full sing-along mode as Davie finished with I’m The Type Of Guy and the rousing Anthem.

Ewan proved that he too could get the crowd singing when he gave them Grim Northern Social hit Honey.

And in So Long Song he offered his own, more hopeful take on 21st century protest, with the theme maintained in a heartfelt tribute to friendship called Just Me And James.

Established crowd-pleasers included New Age Hope Song and Urban Pressure, in which Ewan exercised his impressive vocal range.

And his awareness of rock’s heritage was to the fore in the Bolanesque All That You Want and Quite Feathers, in which there were distinct echoes of the early Goffin and King classics.

However, the highlight of the set was I Feel Warm, a magnificent, poetic love song that was rendered with the kind of sincerity and heart-wrenching passion that few do as well as MacFarlane.

This truly beautiful song brings to mind the likes of Paul McCartney and Cat Stevens at their romantic best and looks set to become one of the great love ballads of all time.

Not that Ewan is likely to rest on his laurels. As well as a forthcoming solo single, he has recently been working on the eagerly anticipated new album with Apollo 440, The Future’s What It Used To Be, with a release date due any day now.

And we can exclusively reveal that Ewan’s new band will be making a debut appearance at Greyfriars in the near future.

Meantime, Floyd are set to play the venue on Sunday.