Isobel Campbell

Isobel Campbell, founding member of Belle and Sebastian, aborted ship just as the band we setting full sail and in the four years since, the mesmerising cellist and singer has had ridden a stormy ride on her own private vessel. Various mini-albums and solo projects have formed a patchwork of vastly varied material, but it’s taken until now, after teaming up with Mark Lanegan to release the excellent ‘Ballad Of The Broken Seas’ for her to recover the kind of acclaim that her old band are duly hardened to.



But still things aren’t easy. On this solo tour, with Eugene Kelly of Captain America fame filling Mr Lanegan’s parts, the crowd at Nottingham’s Social break their own record for acting like utter twats, talking loudly over the music, largely ignoring what’s going on on stage, and even heckling the poor lass for her efforts.

So what should be a poignant, absorbing performance descends into a farce – Isobel makes it clear she doesn’t care either way for the crowd, only coming to the microphone to let the few who are paying attention know that she feels like she’s “at a football match”.



As the words to ‘Deus Ibi Est’ roll off Eugene’s tongue, three smug men in suits talk loudly about the cost of a train fare to Birmingham, before self-assuredly bellowing “not bad, not bad!” at the end of the song, as if everyone else should be thankful for them turning up and passing judgement.

‘Black Mountain’ is a gently swaying sea shanty that struggles to evoke the voyage to foreign worlds that it should do beneath the laughter from in-jokes sounding from the bar. ‘Willow’s Song’, culled from the soundtrack to cult horror ‘The Wicker Man’ compliments the sad, haunting mystery of the performance, but regretfully it seems no one cares.

‘Time Is Just The Same’, the wonderful country jaunt from her previous eponymous solo album elevates the pace of the set as it reaches its climax. Still, it does nothing to alleviate the audience apathy and when the show’s over we’re offered no goodbyes or thank yous, just a sense of relief that we no longer have to share the same room.

Half the crowd leave none the wiser, half leave frustrated and embarrassed at the sheer rudeness of the other locals. It’s a real shame, as tonight could have been a truly evocative performance of a wonderful album. Lesson learned? Avoid gigs in Nottingham if you can. Apparently the train fare to Birmingham is very cheap.

FUTURE GIGS

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