A Saturday night out in Newcastle is not for the faint of heart, with a seemingly endless string of people at various stages of intoxication filling the long cobbled streets. But it is not every week that an artist as promising as Dermot Henry makes a visit to the North East of England, so I made the dangerous journey into the Toon to catch a talent in the making.
After supporting Mercury Prize-nominated Dove Ellis earlier in the year, it was now Dermot Henry’s turn to bring folk artist Tesni along for the ride on a UK tour. Tesni and band were making their Newcastle debut (although cheers rang out when it was revealed the drummer was a Geordie), and they were the perfect choice to engage an audience before the main event. Clear inspirations could be seen from the folk artists of yesteryear, none more so than Joan Baez, with Diamonds and Rust even getting a shout-out within the lyrics of one of Tesni’s tracks. One of the highlights of their short set was when Tesni went solo, while the band looked on in awe, along with the rest of us at the talent on show. With effortless vocals and a beautiful softness to the instrumentation, their performance was near transcendental and meant for a very difficult act for Dermot Henry to follow.
But follow it he did. As Dermot Henry fought his way through the crowd from the back to the front of the intimate upstairs space at Zerox, you could immediately sense that this was an audience that would be eating out of the palm of his hand throughout. He opened his set with My Favourite Book Is One I’ve Read A Bunch, just one of the many snappy-titled songs in his discography. If you listen to the recordings, his music would have matched the folk trend already set by Tesni, but when performed live, he and his band bring the energy to the songs. You can see how much fun he is having doing these shows, often stifling a laugh or sharing a glance with members of his band as they figure out the arrangements of the setlist. Henry stated that he was excited to start his UK tour in Newcastle, explaining that his sold out show in London earlier in the week simply ‘didn’t count’.
It wasn’t until his third song (I Wish I Was) Ennio Morricone that Henry performed one of the songs from his upcoming debut album, where he seemingly shares his disappointment that he wasn’t responsible for the greatest film score in Westerns history. After another song or two, he finally revealed the identities of his band to the crowd, jokingly revealing that his nine-year-old brother was on percussion (I would usually just say drums but his egg shaker elevates his status). He looks old for his supposed age but his talent behind the kit was superb. Throughout his set, Dermot Henry debuted some of the tracks that feature on his upcoming album Bad Throw, Good Catch, with one of the highlights coming in the form of The Moon Looks Much Bigger When It’s Close To The Ground. He’s like a coherent Cameron Winter here, with his lyrical prowess and strong vocals at their greatest.
The band left the stage before the final song, with Henry migrating from centre stage to the keyboard situated on the left side. It is here that he played the hit I Love You, That’s All, the song he performed on national television courtesy of Jools Holland just a few weeks prior. It appeared there was a fair number of Later… fans in the crowd, with the opening verses ringing out across the room. It felt like the perfect way to end such an intimate gig, with a young singer/songwriter on the rise being greeted with a crowd singing his lyrics back at him.
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