Live Review from 21st Anniversary Festival Day 1:
1) Home
2) L.A.
3) Hevel
4) By The Pier
5) Tell Me
6) Try
Someone has to be the one who opens the festival, and upon this historic 21st Underground it’s Paul Roth, singer/songwriter originally from Sydney who has been in Hong Kong bands like Esimorp and Indigo Town, delivering his original blend of folk, country and pop with a modern upgrade.
It’s me and six others in the Fringe Dairy room, I’m tucked way back in the corner of the room and just as he starts to play a photographer who has shown an uncanny ability to stand between me and the artist I’m trying to watch in previous gigs walks across the room, stands in front me, takes some shots, then starts checking his phone. Uncanny.
Roth starts his set with the kind of technique seen in the likes of Daniel Champagne and Ani De Franco; he taps and knocks on the body of his acoustic guitar, records it as a loop and begins to sing, with further use of pedals to harmonise with his own singing.
His next song L.A. is taken from his 2021 album, originally a mid-tempo country rock number with classic band set-up, now deconstructed into a thoughtful, heart-felt number that has a little bit of extra resonance for those of us wondering about our family and friends in Los Angeles.
He leads into his next song Hevel from his upcoming album and it’s an abundance of harmonies and guitar loops that build a warm feel around his voice, serving to enhance the cosiness of the vibe being set by the torrential downpour beating on the windows of the Fringe outside.
It’s always great to watch people walk into a set like this and see their reactions – are they bored? Are they instantly swept away? I watch as people saunter in and become transfixed by his playing, and Roth moves on to his song By the Pier.
His voice is strong, confident and the song itself is a lyrically enticing number that really should have received some lit cigarette lighters swaying in the air as he unpacks his story of the Girl He Met Who Left and there’s a level of nice guy energy in his tone that is Sheeran-like in its wholesomeness.
“I’m not yet famous so this song will never get you” is a lyric that unlocks level of acoustic guitar bard unrequited love that is quite special, and there’s now 12 of us in the room as he gets to the bit about the girl giving him her number and he closes with “sweet girl I met I wish you the best”… I’m pretty sure he won a couple of new fans in the room.
My last memory of his set is clouded by a bartender asked to pour a mixed drink who then poured half a pint of tequila into a glass with a bit of soda… suffice to say Roth brings it home nicely to begin the festival with a tune building loops with a shaker and guitar from his upcoming album. A quality opening act.
Jarrod Watt
