Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore make quite a refreshing change from your average self-absorbed acts. Here we have a live duo who have made an album, along with Jim James (or Yim Yames as he likes to be known these days) to raise awareness of Mountaintop Removal coal mining in their home state of Kentucky. Their sound is a pretty basic folk affair, but the rather original cello style of Ben gives the tunes the distinction needed to keep the attention of the crowd.Get Well Soon, on the other hand, are big fans of the grandiose. From overly long song titles (they open with We Are Safe Inside While They Burn Down Our House) to some epic instrumentation – they hit us with the kind of dynamics and emotion that fans of Arcade Fire and The Dears are quite accustomed to. The set is a very much centred on the Vexations album, with just the odd nod back to their previous opus. Singer Konstantin Gropper keeps things running smoothly, with his backing ensemble swapping between a myriad of wood, brass and electrics. The 90 minute set seems to fly by and, after finishing with a blistering version of If My Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting, then they are gone. We, however, are dumped back outside into sub-zero temperatures and tube strike hell.
