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Thursday finally saw the arrival of Erland & The Carnival‘s sold out Hoxton headline show which we’d been anticipating for a long while. With their debut album proving one of our sleeper hits of the year so far, we were enthused to hear their potentially huge sounding folk Carnivalizations in the flesh.

For Fans Of: The Doors, Ennio Moricone, Love.

Erland and The Carnival’s most notorious members are of course front-man Erland Cooper and former The Verve guitarist Simon Tong, certainly one of the most laid back but impressive guitarists we’ve set eyes on in a while. Drumer David Nock though deserves an honourable mention for the impressive array of beats he adds to old folk tunes like ‘Was You Ever See’ which along with Erland’s slightly indie (think Gallagher-esque) delivery very much succeed in catapulting these tunes from their ye-olde roots into the 21st Century.

The band’s self titled debut album provides the lion’s share of the material on offer tonight and it’s the Jackson C Frank song ‘My Name Is Carnival’, which the group take their moniker from, that serves as the initial atmosphere builder. Erland’s voice on occasions falls a little too far back in the mix of instruments this evening but the likes of ‘The Derby Ram’ and the slower “Disturbed This Morning” see his tones shine through. Andy Bruce’s sometimes sweet (‘The Echoing Green’) and sometimes head swirling (‘One Morning Fair’) combination of keys and synth are a real The Doors like treat.

During the last third of their set and the band crack out the big guns or singles if you please. ‘Trouble In Mind’ gets the biggest reaction from the crowd and understandably so, its certainly one of our songs of the year so far. While latest single and 100% E&TC crafted ‘You Don’t Have To Be Lonely’ is a little less pop but just as potent. Re-constructed folk ditty ‘Love Is A Killing Thing’ unleashes the full furore of the band while at the same time showcasing Erland’s deft vocal touch.

The highlight tonight though, like their bespoke 7″s for sale outside, comes in a surprise package. A technical problem sees Erland borrow Simon’s obviously precious guitar for a short, improvised but clearly heartfelt song (unrecognised by us – Let Me Be Your Lover?) between set and encore.

While manning the band’s merch’ table pre & post gig drummer David reveals to us that album number two is already in the works and he’s keen to share the band’s Carnivalizations projects which sees them add their sound to a smattering of favourites old and new. E&TC are an exciting prospect clearly brimming with energy, ideas and talent from more than one department. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on where they decide to go next.