Radical Face – Tuning Fork June 3, 2017

 

Ben Cooper, aka Radical Face, performed a dozen or so songs last night touching on topics such as murder, domestic violence, matricide and suicide and somehow made everyone who attended feel better for having experienced the show.

Another terrorist attack, this time in London, is unfolding as I’m writing this. We, as media consumers are bombarded by terrible images and reports at an almost constant pace. It seems only right that those elements will find their way into the music that gets written and performed.

Fortunately, an accomplished songwriter like Ben Cooer can take this dark subject matter and turn it into something that helps us understand the world around us and ultimately to feel better about ourselves.

As Cooper warned the crowd as The Tuning Fork last night before playing his first song…”they’re all pretty depressing”.

So, he began with the one happy song, Summer Skeletons, about the joy of being a kid in the summertime.

Then came Ghost Towns, about a murder, Rivers In The Dust, about The Great Depression, The Mute, about a little boy who can’t speak, and Wrapped In Piano Strings, about suicide.

It all sounds pretty bleak, but in Cooper’s hands it feels more redemptive.

Cooper performed these songs seated with an acoustic guitar surrounded by his bandmates…there were four of them, Rick, Jeremiah, Josh and Clay…moving around behind him, playing a variety of instruments including bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and cello.

The sound of the cello was especially well used. Songs such as The Cooked Kind and Winter Is Coming sounded like some sort of chamber-folk as the cello intermingled with Cooper’s acoustic guitar. Later, during the into to Black Eyes, a song about domestic violence, the cello was put to use to give it a “metal” feel. It made a truly ominous sound.

Despite the fact that Radical Face is essentially Cooper’s project, this felt like a real band. All of the players are friends of Cooper’s from his hometown in Jacksonville, Florida and the vibe on stage reflected that friendship.

During The Mute, only the cello was needed, so the other three musicians laid down on the stage, rather than leave…with drummer Rick reading a book.

The show ended on an upbeat note with Cooper’s best-known song, Welcome Home, setting the scene for a sing-along.

Then, for the encore, Cooper performed a song from Disney’s Robin Hood (he called it Not In Nottingham), while the four supporting musicians danced wildly on and off stage.

I should mention, I arrived to time to catch Mice On Stilts. Bandleader Benjamin Morley was sporting a newly-shaved head and he and his mates created some truly transcendental music to set the tone for the evening.

It was a wonderful night and a reminder of how music can serve to heal and soothe in troubled times.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Veronica McLaughlin:

Radical Face set list:

1. Summer Skeletons
2. Ghost Towns
3. Rivers In The Dust
4. The Crooked Kind
5. The Ship In Port
6. The Mute
7. Winter Is Coming
8. Wrapped In Piano Strings
9. Sisters
10. Black Eyes
11. Welcome Home
12. Always Gold
13. Not In Nottingham