MEILYR JONES | LIVE REVIEW
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Fri 13 May
Have you ever cried at a gig? A friend of mine was lucky to see Meilyr Jones’ very first show, and told me that those in the front row were in tears. She was clearly perplexed by this but it didn’t strike me as out of the ordinary. What Meilyr did to the crowd during his gig at Clwb Ifor Bach did however knock my socks off: if you’re not sitting down, grab a chair.
I am happy to report that on May 13th Mr. Jones performed a miracle: he commanded total silence from a Friday night crowd. How did he achieve this – witchcraft, magic? There were no dark arts at play, just an exuberant, charismatic frontman whose ingenious lyrical wordplay and beautiful west Walian lilt cast a spell on all of us. The support of a super tight band (including Younghusband’s Euan Ferguson on guitar) adds to the impact.
The set starts with recent single How To Recognise A Work Of Art and the (now silent) crowd are obviously hooked. The band race through most of its parent album, 2013, which charts a period of change in the frontman’s life). Meilyr knows how to work a crowd, talking to them gently in both English and Welsh; the only break in his flow comes following a spell where he disappears to play among the crowd, returning to tell us he’s broken his tooth. A minor inconvenience that doesn’t dampen his spirit or stop his smiles.
Cynics might describe the sound as derivative, but while there are influences aplenty to be heard, you cannot pigeonhole this sound. Meilyr is a chameleonic, musical shapeshifter: the tunes go from orchestrated chamber sounds, to stomping soul, to rock and psych. Sometimes upbeat, sometimes dark, what’s also there in bags is the sense of fun. He’s a frontman without ego, sharing mutual respect with his bandmates, evident in the backslaps and grins shared between him and his band during the set.
As if to emphasise his crowd charming skills, Meilyr finishes the night with an unamplified version of Be Soft, tender, beautiful, mesmerising, and yes, tearjerking. He’s playing a heap of dates between now and the autumn – go see him unless you don’t like smiling or the occasional tear.
words GRACE TODD