Curtis Harding at Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Stepping out to the opening chords of Out in the Black and a delighted welcome from the Shepherd’s Bush Empire crowd, Curtis Harding looked right at home on stage as he prepared to draw the European leg of his tour to a close. Harding and band performed with a measured mix of excellence and apparent ease, well-rehearsed as they are in drawing the audience into their uplifting, kaleidoscopic catalogue of sounds.

The atmosphere was dreamlike, ethereal – evoking the expansive schema of Harding’s most recent record, Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt, in arrangements driven by nods to funk and disco, and with a heavy centring of Joshy Soul’s church-organ-like keys. The first few tracks raised the energy of the room and showcased the skills of a group of musicians who have been living and breathing their craft on the road for weeks. Time was a particular stand-out, with Sean Thompson offering a first hint of his excellent hand for a gorgeous guitar lick.

The heavy grooves of The Power and the irresistible bassline of There She Goes followed on to make good use of the dancefloor, and gave Harding’s vocal the opportunity to really shine. “Love is revolution”, he reminded us, at a pause between songs, to rapturous response. Still, he leads by example: we’ve known for years that his voice is lustrous, wonderful to listen to, but beyond his technical brilliance, Harding really sings like he means it – he believes in his message, he lives it, and his palpable love for his art brings a warmth that lights up the venue. What’s more, he’s just as comfortable channelling that message through his guitar, to express those feelings that words can’t quite capture, ready to journey alongside his band once he has lit the way for his listeners to join too.

The performance was sparkling – Harding and his band poured new life into a set that was already abundant, and when they returned to the stage for an encore – heeding the call of a well-deserved and incessant round of applause – they left the hall echoing with the resplendent, insistent refrain of Hopeful. The track’s sweet blending of gospel-inspired vocals, transporting melodies that hark back to tradition and Harding’s own creative power, which propels his work ever into the future, was the perfect close to an exceptional show.

Sylvia Unerman
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events, visit Curtis Harding’s website here.

Watch the video for The Power here: