Speeding through straight from work I came half equipped, lets face a pen is pretty much a necessity for a writer, so for this gig I decided to interpret as best I could through the ancient art of origami – then I asked the bar to lend me a pen.

Glass Ankle may be small on numbers but not on sound we have, keys, cajon, bass, acoustic, electric, ukulele, glock and clarinet to create a 12 piece sounding pop style.

Greg’s vocals have the perfect combination of light huskiness and soaring power, combined with the beautiful harmonies from the Joanna newson esk claire and chika creating a haunting urgency to their sound.

The band are as stoic as the bass when it comes to any showboating, the charisma is in the songs and any banter is saved to distract from the tedious tuning process, but like the tunes, is understated gold.

I didn’t realise just how much I was enjoying Glass Ankle until they finished, what a great opening.

What a wake up from John Herring, jumping straight into ‘Home’ without so much of a ‘How’s your father?’

A problem has been brought to my attention however; in order to review a singer/songwriter I would have thought that an inability to hear the main vocals (let alone the back up) will cause somewhat of a hindrance.

The audience is friend and family driven, but is noticeably shy at first; I think the house lights are making them shy away from the stage. But after a couple of tracks they warm a little and John brings them to, lighters out in full arm swing by the end.

John has a relaxed presence; he’s at home on the stage telling his story in a melancholy but melodic voice and although I am missing the strings that appear frequently on his recordings and aside from the obvious sound issues that I just couldn’t get passed, it’s a fully enjoyable gig for all.

Words by Carolyn Davis