Sparklehorse/Norfolk & Western

Norfolk & Western are so unassuming I barely notice their stage arrival.

Falling into a similar school of sparse, earthy folk as Low and Howie Gelb, main man Adam Selzer isn’t so much singing as whispering softly into the microphone.

Warmly received, they play dusky atmospheric songs like ‘Evergreen’ and ‘Absence Of Photographs’, complete with Rachel Blumbergs vocal harmonies.

Sparseness appears to be the theme of the night, as Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous appears, accompanied by just a drummer instead of his usual ensemble of violinists and cellists.

Singing to backing music, his worryingly gaunt Cowboy-esque figure seems lost on stage. He plays crowd faves ‘Saturday’ and ‘Hundreds Of Sparrows’ with his trademark fuzz vocals, but it feels almost like a half-hearted venture.

Although Linkous has pioneered lo-fi melancholia, I’ve seen him in better form and remain unsurprised when an audience member is compelled to shout out, “Almost too quiet!”, Linkous’s reply is quite simply “I know”.

Joined by N&W and Gemma Hayes for an encore of ‘Homecoming Queen’, he leaves the stage to appreciative applause but I exit feeling a tad dismayed.