Candlelight Original Sessions – Manchester Cathedral

A beautifully intimate evening gracing Manchester Cathedral’s skies with whimsical live music, storytelling, and candlelight. This Candlelight Original Session (that sold out in just 11 minutes!) brought Bastille fans to Manchester to celebrate the release of their new album Bastille Presents “&” (Ampersand) amongst the beauty and magnificence of Manchester Cathedral.

It was on a very wet rainy evening that I made my way to the stunning Manchester Cathedral situated in the city to watch Bastille, who formed in 2010, with frontman Dan Smith perform a special candlelit live preview of Bastille’s new album “&” (Ampersand). On turning the corner and ‘doors opening’ not for a while yet, I was thinking surely no one will be queuing in this torrential rain. I was amazed to see the tops of umbrellas as a very, very long queue had formed leading into the Cathedral entrance waiting. I was very taken with the fondness and respect shown for Bastille and I had some wonderful chats with fans whilst waiting in the rain. An aspect of live music that I really can appreciate is that it really does connect like-minded people.

About this new album Smith himself has said,

“I’ve always loved writing story songs and using tales of other people as a way into making music and talking about my experiences in life. Over the last few years, I’ve been working on a whole load of songs about people who I think are fascinating and who’s lives really spoke to me.”

He goes on to say,

“I didn’t really know what this project of mine was, but I knew I wanted to go about making it in a new and different way. I wrote these songs at my kitchen table so they needed to sound homemade, and intimate and warm. I reached out to loads of amazing creative people, musicians, artists and a whole lot more, inviting them all to be part of this storytelling project. For me, it’s been the most brilliant, fun and chilled process while also trying to do justice to the lives and stories of these amazing people. Now I’m really excited to start sharing it with you, I wasn’t setting out to make this as a Bastille album, but it feels like it’s very much within our world, so we decided to call it Bastille Presents “&” (Ampersand)”.

As part of this special 4-date Candlelight live tour, Smith visited other glorious venues in Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool. The exclusive Candlelight shows saw Smith perform with highly talented musicians that he collaborated with on the album and feature songs inspired by those people I feel have influenced Smith in his own philosophy of life and perhaps some of its meaning. One song that was sung with such feeling, depth and Smith’s own gentle vulnerability was “Blue Sky & The Painter, a song that stayed with me long after I left the beautiful cathedral. The song is inspired by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and the journey he had with his own mental health. The lyrics,

“Would I be who I am without the sadness in me..” powerful and poignant.

 I think as mentioned it’s that vulnerability of Smith when he sings. It appeals, it’s real, raw. He has a presence and even more so on an evening that felt so intimate. Being seated and very still has its own challenges when so much of listening to music (to me) is movement and expressing our own feelings as an audience, but this wasn’t a gig in a true sense. It was an experience and so very magical to be a witness to the intimacy. The Candlelight, 100’s and 100’s of lit faux LED candles dotted around the Cathedral created such a wonderful ambience listening to the music. It must be mentioned that the event organisers and Cathedral staff were impeccable in their front of house organisation. I’m sure a lot goes on behind the scenes also, and audience members were taken swiftly to their seats, all situated in different zones within the Cathedral, no easy task but they did it well. The hospitality was excellent, we were greeted with warmth, care and graciousness by the organisers and it has highlighted that this being my first Manchester Cathedral Candlelight event I will be wanting to go back to another very soon. When talking to the softly lit audience in between songs, Smith displayed a wonderful humility, a gentle humour and true appreciation for music and how captivating these stories are to him and the iconic people linked to them. Another song that I will be listening to many times on the “&” Candlelit Limited Edition CD that I was able to purchase separately and along with the other album formats is released on 25^th October, is “Leonard & Marianne”. This song shares so much on love, longing and loss and the very intimate and complicated relationship Leonard Cohen and his muse Marianne Ihlen had. Having watched Nick Broomfield’s documentary “Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love” and the impact it had on me at the time, I knew this song would hit and it did. It’s beautiful, just beautiful. Smith talks more in depth about the people who inspired him with this new album in his MUSES: An Ampersand Podcast with Emma Nagouse where more reflections are made by himself why these people’s stories have made such an impact on his own musical journey. We were also treated to “Pompeii”, the fourth single from their debut album “Bad Blood” released in 2013. It was a breakthrough hit and peaked at number two on the UK singles chart, everyone’s toes were gently and quietly tapping along.

Following the unique run of Candlelight “&” (Ampersand) shows Smith will be on tour from 10th November for more special and intimate shows, including Paris, Belgium, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Los Angeles and New York. Tickets are on sale now, though I believe they are a sell out as I have not been so fortunate to get one! I am extremely grateful however that I got to experience the new album set amongst the most wonderful backdrop. It really was a magical evening.

Reviewer: Mary Fogg

Reviewed: 16th October 2024