Bobby Long - The Garage, London - 17th July 2009


Who is Bobby Long you may ask, and for many his is still an unknown artist that sells his shows and has a nice following building. However for many he’s one of a select few performers that is graced with a soon to be huge following due partly to word of mouth recommendations by fans and friends in higher places. This by no means a bad thing; Bobby can actually play and is very talented as a performer and song writer so it is no shock he has friends that are also talent. Bobby just happens to be good friends with a little known actor by the name of Robert Pattinson; you may have heard of him, and so have 1000 upon 1000 of others. Bobby along with a few others has developed a cult following as such from fan curiosity leading into fan appreciation.

I went to see the live show with an open mind, knowing that the vast amount of hype for him may be just that, hype from another fan base that likes to show love for other artists. I’d heard one of his tracks and to be honest it was worth going to see him live as the ability he has to convey feeling in music did not do him enough justice from the one track I’d heard. He sung an array of new and old pieces and though he could have played up his celeb connections he thankfully didn’t because in his eyes as well as the afore mentioned actor they are just friends from way back that happen to both have creative talents.

The venue was a nice comfortable size, though the broken air con system took away some of the comfort, and Bobby continued on his set and even returning for a few more even in the nearly unbearable heat. His music has an indie meets easy rock vibe and can be best compared to acts like Bright Eyes, Ray LaMontagne and Joshua Radin. Crowd favourites of the evening were ‘Dublin’, which from the sounds of it came partly as a request from friends in the back that continually shouted jibes and encouragement to much laughter, ‘Girl from the Keys’ that was far more fast paced beat that got the whole crowd going and ‘Dead and Done Blues’ a real fan favourite that was the sing-a-long track of the night that appeared to take Bobby back a bit and he laughed and was humble when the crowd sung back the next lines to him.

A highly recommended new and unsigned artist that is worth his talent and hopefully will grow as an artist in his own right.


Review by Laura Heath


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