Complete with international touring artists, a vintage fun fair and local craft beer the Burning Lantern Fayre is shaping up to be the perfect one-dayer. John-Paul Davies talks to headliner Tom Odell about the festival scene and who the singer-songwriter is looking forward to seeing at St Fagans.
Burning Lantern Fayre is at the end of a busy festival season for you. How differently do you approach a festival gig, compared with a theatre show?
It’s different, it’s incredibly different. It’s much less about the band and I. It’s more about sharing the experience with the audience. Everyone is there to have a good time. People are in a very unique state of mind at festivals. They don’t have to worry about getting the bus home after the show. There’s a more free-spirited energy that is nice to play with. It’s definitely different.
Does that affect your song choices for the set?
Definitely. I find I tend to change it when I arrive at a festival. We decide what we are going to play just before we go on, or even when we’re on stage.
Who will you be looking out for at Burning Lantern? Jack Savoretti, The Shires, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Kizzy Crawford are all playing.
Yeah, I’ve never seen Jack Savoretti. I’ve heard his songs on the radio a few times and I’d like to check him out. I like the stuff I’ve heard, a lot. And Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, I mean, Jesus! I’ve got to check them out.
You’re known as a balladeer but on stage you really like to let loose. What standout live performances have you seen?
Actually, I saw The Maccabees the other night at their last ever show at Alexandra Palace and that was absolutely incredible. Definitely one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. But also, I think, Bruce Springsteen. I saw him when I was about 19 and he blew my mind. He’s an older man, and he plays like there’s no tomorrow. I supported Elton John at the iTunes festival in 2013. I’ve seen him multiple times but that was the best I’ve ever seen him. It was incredible.
You won the prestigious Ivor Novello award for Songwriter of the Year in 2014. How important is that recognition from fellow writers in the industry?
I think that award meant a lot to me. As you say, it was voted for by other writers. And the award was for song-writing, which is why I got into this. That’s still the most gratifying, satisfying thing I do. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m doing it all wrong. Having to write five hours of music to get four and a half minutes. But there’s a lot of writers that I admire who have that approach as well. It has to just flow. I can’t be the one who stops that. I have to write everything down and then, at a later date, decide what’s good and what’s not. In that moment when the piece is being written I don’t like to judge it too much. It’s like a tap, you know? If you keep opening it and shutting it, it sometimes takes a while to get the water flowing. It’s about getting the truest song, the most honest song, that isn’t necessarily the best, but it’s the most emotionally real.
Can we expect any new material at Burning Lantern Fayre?
No, festivals aren’t really the time for that. I’m still too sensitive about them all, to be honest with you [laughs]. If I got a bad reaction from the crowd I might end up never ever singing it again.
Burning Lantern Fayre, Sat 12 August, St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff. Tickets £49.50 Info: 029 2023 0130 / www.burninglantern.com