Music / Reviews
Review: Craig Finn, The Exchange – ‘A feeling of togetherness’
It was a freezing cold night but luckily Craig Finn was here on the ninth stop of his UK tour to warm us up with chosen support for the night being Essex born Scott Lavene.
He arrives on stage to a pretty much full Exchange, this was my first time seeing Scott but he has a few fans in this crowd already.
He’s a man with an electric guitar clearly with a story to tell, apt given the nature of this tour. Late Night In Billericay turns effortlessly from a poignant love song to a song that makes you smile.
is needed now More than ever
Lavene then drops a new single Debbie which is due to be released in May and another new track, and surely a future single, Steve McQueen which is a crowd pleaser in Bristol.
He then takes to the piano to show off the voice I didn’t know he had. Meththylated Blue is a power ballad crooner type of a song, in a good way.
The crowd then shout out for “the waitrose song!” which he duly complies with. The song is dedicated to middle-class COVID moaners!
The Ballad of Lynsey is both a highlight and a set closer as the crowd all get involved and provide backing vocals for a line you won’t forget “I chose amphetamines over you”.
A heart break-humorous-smile-cry-piano-banger! I’m a fan now.
The room is now as full as it gets as Craig Finn arrives to rapturous cheers, he has a clear loyal fan base. I’d seen him several times as front ,an of The Hold Steady but this was my first of his solo shows.
His voice strikes me straight away as pristin and his lyrics hit on such a deeper level live, there’s so much detail but they’re so succinct.
He is a true storyteller, both in song and in between songs giving context to each song which enables me to place myself in the subjects of his songs. He appears obsessed with other people’s lives as he loves to tell tales whether it’s from other’s points of view or how he sees them.
His stories are delivered with passion, precision and have me sucked into his spell. Newmyer’s Roof was formed from the ashes of 9/11 where he tells the confused story of watching the Twin Towers drop whilst drinking beer on a rooftop in New York.
The crowd can’t get enough as he mixes in The Hold Steady song Magazines.
Scott Lavene then joins him on stage to form an unlikely warped Chas’n’Dave combination for God In Chicago and by this point Finn has me lost on his words so much so I forget the story he’s singing isn’t actually his.
His songs may well be sometimes sad but we are left with a feeling of togetherness, they are monuments to people who don’t always get a voice. They are about finding hope in our sadness and making it through.
A lesson in lyricism and a lesson in how to passionately deliver them. People are his inspiration and he inspires people. Joyful.
Main photo: Matt Barnes
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
