Live: Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly in Stoke on Trent, UK
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is the stage name of 20 year old Essex boy Sam Duckworth. NME describes Get Cape’s music as: ‘The gall and glory of the clash, the righteous acoustic punk of billy bragg and the question raising onstage proclamations of a doe-eyed, shaggy-fringed Henry Rollins'. The point they’re getting at is that Get Cape is pretty unique and possesses a lot of good genre qualities. Possibly the most unique selling point of this act is that Sam is the only definite band member, on stage alone with occasional support from a drummer, a trumpet player, his acoustic guitar and his laptop.
Despite this, the young man knows how to put on a good performance, and is very chatty. The gaps between each song were filled with an informative talk about several issues concerning Sam – making reference to how gigs in smaller venues and towns/cities need to be maintained, the plight of child labour in 3rd world countries and his disgust to the broadcast an upcoming TV documentary promoting weight loss to people insecure about their size on a well known UK terrestrial channel.
Sounds very much like a political rally, but there was music too and it was performed incredibly well. Considering the resources he had at his disposal were limited, he managed to rock the 300 capacity venue with an acoustic performance! He sings with a southern accent, something I admired, and his voice was on form throughout, comparable to the sound of the album Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager.
As this was a small acoustic gig, it was never likely to be a jump around and scream along frenzy (with the exception of one song), but more a sing along occasionally, nod, clap and sway appreciation. Most notable songs were I-Spy, Call Me Ishmael and opening song One More With Feeling. I mentioned an exception to the sing along frenzy, and this was the penultimate song; the most recognised as the current single – The Chronicles… Part 1. This is a very good live song, instrumental throughout (can’t ask for more than a trumpet solo!), catchy with an easy sing along and full of energy. The crowd loved it so much that they continued to sing it once the band had gone until they came back out! The night ended with the one song encore – a cover of Steve Miller Band’s Abra Cadabra.
Verdict: The set was enjoyable, and ended with a bang on the final two songs. An impressive performance considering the massive UK tour Sam and the Get Cape family are on at the moment. He will leave his mark across the nation and word of mouth will build Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly up over the next year.