WILLIAM DOYLE + DELMER DARION – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 2.12.21
On a busy Thursday night at Brighton’s Hope & Ruin, located at 11-12 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3WA, William Doyle came to the stage as part of his exclusive half dozen UK tour dates in support of his latest album ‘Great Spans Of Muddy Time’ and his brand new ‘Alternate Lands’ 4 track EP.
William started his tour in Leeds last Saturday (27th November), then moved on to Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol before arriving here in Brighton. He put out two genre defining albums under the banner of East India Youth including Mercury music prize nominated ‘Total Strife Forever’ in 2013, and ‘Culture Of Volume’ in 2015.
Opening the night was Delmer Darion, the two piece electronic duo made up of Oliver Jack and Tom Lenton, who have been joining William on his tour throughout the UK and tonight landing in Brighton for their second to last show of the tour.
The duo created a wall of sound that continuously filled The Hope & Ruin uninterrupted throughout their half an hour set. The set was made up of songs from their previous album, ‘Morning Pageants’. The band had the whole crowd in some kind of trance, as they were enjoying each song with their full attention. Despite not speaking until the last song of their set, the band never failed to bring their electric personality to each track.
At an early 9:30pm William Doyle took to The Hope & Ruin stage. You could have heard a pin drop as the punters were intensely listening and watching every note, and indeed it was like that for the rest of the whole night. The crowd stood transfixed by what was unveiling in front of them. There was so much going on with many layers of sound and styles.
Like a classical concert performance, the audience waited for the very last note to finish before rewarding him with rapturous applause and whoops. It was almost impossible to believe one solo performer could create such a large sound. However with a mix of guitar, keys, synth and loops, William filled the venue with musically complex and crowd engaging tunes.
With a mixture of old and new songs that required very little introduction to his dedicated audience, William held the crowd’s attention for the full hour set. Other aspects that stood out was his energetic live stage performance, after the release of his newest album ‘Great Spans of Muddy Time’ in 2021, it is no wonder he is so critically acclaimed as a writer and performer. Willian continues his tour on their final stop at the Moth Club in London.
For further information on William Doyle, visit his official website – william-doyle.co.uk
