Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
With a growing reputation as one of the best singer/songwriters to come out of Suffolk since a certain Mr Sheeran emerged onto the scene, Cam T certainly has music in his blood.
The son of British Lion vocalist Richard Taylor, the Lowestoft based musician has eschewed the easy route into the business, instead forging out on his own and with countless live dates under his belt has proven himself in no uncertain terms. Celebrating his biggest year yet, the singer turned to home to play one of the most important dates of his career so far and Lowestoft’s Seagull Theatre was the chosen venue, every seat taken up by family, friends and fans.
There’s more than a touch of Springsteen in Taylor’s approach to songwriting and performance and whilst there’s not the ego-fuelled bombast that may tempt others, what is seen is a command of the stage and an ability to communicate with every single person there. With an adrenaline rush of stadium sized hooks, the whole has a real sense of style that keys in with modern sensibilities that speak of radio-friendly tunes that are destined to become embedded deeply into the national consciousness. This, matched with the singer’s characterful and warm voice brings out both an emotional resonance and storytelling ease that paints pictures that stretch well beyond the rapidly cooling temperature outside. Even with a slight rasp caused by the tail end of a recent illness, nothing seemingly holds Taylor back from giving it his all.
From the joyful bounce of the Twenty-One Pilots meets Coldplay opener of ‘My Person’ the quartet onstage are a blur of movement as they project arena sized sonics into the space around them. The pop rock with grit of ‘Oh No!’ and ‘Francesca’ demand attention, Taylor looking like a street tough version of ‘Faith’ era George Michael with his black leather jacket and large red guitar, his look just as sharp and cool.
Quickly hitting their stride, the anthemic ‘Heal’ and a singalong ‘iloveu’ sees the whole of the audience on their feet and heartily joining in as smiles break out over everyone’s faces, lost in the euphoria.While numbers like the passionate ‘Aphrodisiac’ and driving rocker ‘Lust’ hit hard, there’s so much more here than just waves of loud guitars and drums as gorgeous new song ‘Winter’ brings a gentle calm and beauty to the night.
Highlights are many but with perfectly crafted fare like stunning single ‘Little Soldier’ proving Taylor’s ability to write something that resonates long after the last note there’s a lot to take in. With his voice finally at breaking point, the night ends a little earlier than planned but it doesn’t seem to matter a bit, the singer having done more than enough to win hearts and minds.
What he does next is anyone’s guess but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Cam T is the biggest thing to come out of Lowestoft since The Darkness and follows the Hawkins brothers into the big leagues. A star is born in the East.
