This is our second time seeing Far From Saints. The first was earlier in the year at Black Deer Festival and they were very good and went down well, so it was going to be interesting to see them inside, playing to a partisan crowd. And it was a pleasant surprise when we went into the Town Hall to see that for once they had removed the seats, which is a big bone of contention with us. Having seen many a gig here, not exactly ruined but not enhanced by those pesky seats, with the crowd having to sit clapping like sealions and spoiling the atmosphere.

With only one self-titled album released so far, albeit a number one, to play a full set obviously they included several cover songs, six in total, including ‘I Want You To Want Me’, ‘Stop Dragin My Heart Around’, ‘Midnight Rider’, ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’, ‘Be My Baby’, and the final number of the night ‘American Girl’. The earlier part of the set featured their own very good stuff like ‘Screaming Hallelujah’, ‘Faded Black Tattoo’ and ‘Let the Light Shine Over You’, all that met with much appreciation from the sold-out crowd, who were really enjoying this. With a nicely decorated stage suiting the vibe of tonight and with an amazing band behind them, main vocalists Kelly Jones and Patty Lynn can’t go wrong, and with Dwight Baker taking lead vocal on ‘I Want You To Want Me’, they are a tight outfit. And before we knew it, it was over, and on this showing, I’m putting money on that most of the sold-out crowd will be waiting for a repeat performance and a follow up album, which surely must happen based on the sales and reaction to it. The big question is, how long do we have to wait?

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe