Samuel Ashton Live Review – The Harbour Arm
Words and pictures by Jayson Worsfold (Homebug Photography)
Love is in the sun
Spring is well and truly on our doorstep and the sun is shining like it’s a mid-summers day. We’re at the Harbour Arm in Folkestone, a once-upon-a-time place that was filled with channel hoppers, market goers, tourists and thrill seekers. People who would travel for miles to play in the on-beach arcades or join the queues for the white-knuckle rides.
Today though, Folkestone’s crowds are here for a different reason. To see Folkestone’s very own soul man, Samuel Ashton. A man whose voice, guitar playing and song writing is gaining recognition. Ashton is a wandering man, whether he is playing to the ears of those in London with his band ‘The Instincts’, regaling stories of his many travels, or greeting those who stop to listen when he busks the world’s streets.
Spreading the light
Tonight, The Harbour Arm is packed. Filled with people from various levels of society, all here to see Samuel and his talented band. The opening song ‘Let Love In’ smothers its listeners with the sound of waves smashing against the pier. Ashton engages with the crowd between songs about his influences and how they’d written the tracks. The Instincts played through songs that had the crowd singing, making new friends amongst the captivated and carefree crowd.
This event had a varied audience, from the elderly that got up and twisted through song after song, the eager familiar faces that follow the band. Right down to the children that were behind the stage dancing, who got a huge cheer and a notable mention when the first half of the set ended.
Playing through song after foot tapping song, Ashton’s set included fan favourites, ‘Rolling Stone,’ ‘Angels Fly,’ ‘Daisy’ and ‘Medicine Music.’ These chilled vibes also made sure the beer and wine was flowing freely.
Simply beautiful
Samuel is another talented artist that we’ve followed since the Blue Reef Festival in Loddington last year.
Chatting to him after the gig, the sun glare made making eye contact impossible. Samuel used his towering height to help shield me from the sun so we could have a catch up. In this time, he spoke about his travels, his upcoming adventures and of course the new album. Samuel is immensely proud of their latest music and funding raised to get the album released. Impressively, the new material is being produced by Grammy award winner Ian Dowling, best known for his work on Adele’s ‘21’, ‘Bombay Bicycle Club,’ ‘Catfish and The Bottle men’, ‘The Kooks’ and ‘KT Tunstall’.
Fly on
As he pulled his guitar up and placed his capo on the third fret, the band played ‘Witch Doctor’. With the crowd singing along to every word, it was a magical moment. Other songs included ‘Ghost of Love,’ ‘Love is in the Sun,’ ‘Simply Beautiful,’ and ‘Carry You’. Ending their set with ‘Breathe Easy,’ they were greeted with chants from the crowd of “One more song! One more song!”. Of course they caved, and with this atmosphere who wouldn’t? They stepped back up and played their hit ‘Spreading Light.’ People were clapping, dancing with their dogs and with each other. There was a mild breeze in the air now that really set the atmosphere of a perfect day.
The highlights of the gig were the seven new songs, but my two favourites were ‘Angels Fly’ and ‘Ghost Of Love.’ If these songs are anything to go by the new album will pack a punch and place Samuel Ashton and the Instincts at the top of the world, where they deserve to be.
The band anatomy is made up of the following members: Samuel Ashton (lead singer and guitarist,) Will Evans (lead guitarist,) Chris James (bass guitar,) Sam Moore (drums) and Ben Wilson (flugelhorn.)
You can find Samuel Ashton and the Instincts on the following social media platforms:
Facebook and Instagram.
For booking events: samuelashtonmusic@gmail.com
Web and info: samuelashton.co.uk
And can also help the cause by buying tickets to an event near you or support him by buying the live album: samuelashton.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-duke-official-bootleg
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