Live Review: Runner, The Shallows, The Flower Drums

Following on from the HUSH show at Guildford Grammar School Chapel, tonight's show at The Ellington saw Runner revisit the realm of an acoustic show and they were kind enough to bring along some friends as well.

Opening up the night were The Flower Drums with their track Lust Of The Sun. The five-piece were spot on throughout their set, with their songs easily transitioning to the more stripped back style of performance. While vocalist Leigh Craft made comment of how they had started out as quite a mellow band and had gotten a bit louder of late and now had to work to “tone it down” for this show, for anyone unfamiliar with the band, you would think tracks Morning Mountains, Raindrops and Swimmers were always meant to sound like that. Finishing off with Below The Forest Floor, they rounded off a quality set that demonstrated they are definitely a band to keep an eye on.

As the audience seemed to grow and grow inside the cosy surrounds of The Ellington, The Shallows took to the stage. As nine members of the band stepped on stage you were almost wondering were they all going to fit up there, but they did and oh what a sound they created. With the outstanding vocal abilities of singer Adam Tatana set to a range of instruments such as the harp, cello, violin and the standard bass, guitar and percussion, this band delivered a beautiful set with some lovely arrangements closing up with the track Speak Please.

As it was time for Runner to take to the stage, vocalist Andrew Clarke came on first, joined shortly after by Jason Pang, as they shared a new song with the audience. As the rest of the band and what seemed to be half of The Shallows came on stage, Runner went on to deliver an impressive set. Just as the bands that preceded them, Runner's acoustic offerings were so good, it was as if they were always meant to sound that way. The addition of the strings and the extra backing vocals courtesy of The Shallows gave songs like Outlines & Colours, Pilgrim and Aria extra layers of depth, concluding a night of music that was beautiful from start to finish.