You can know someone for years and never truly gain insight into what they are capable of proving to the world until the one moment where the stage lights hits the spot where they stand, and all of a sudden the shadows melt away, they retreat to furthest corners of the mind and all that remains is an artist’s soul, a bright light in which you cannot but send messages to your nearest and fondly remembered that you wish they were there to enjoy the reveal.
That reveal may come early in life, the young embracing, but forever then chasing, the instant hit of success as they pour their dreams out to willing ears, eager to hear their angst and revel in their teenage anguish and drama. It is an age old question, enjoy the hurrah and the constant shaking of hands whilst the blood rages and the smiles have to become forced, or the truth of the congratulations when you have found the calling which inspires you, the moment may come later in life but it doesn’t, and should never, diminish the fire that lives on and multiplies as the art matures into the realm of extraordinary and passionate cool.
It was an embrace wholeheartedly received as Andrew Hesford took to the stage at The Casa on Hope Street and one that was sincere, knocked out of the ball park by the heftiest of thumps from the musical baseball bat and caught on the other side of the fence by a willing crowd who held his name aloft in large letters and who were certainly eager for more.
It matters not your time spent on Earth in the end, it matters how you have influenced others, how you have urged them to see beyond the silk sheets that act as curtains and the energy you put into every aspect of your life.
In that respect Andrew Hesford can claim to be someone who is not only respected, but larger than life, a sense of charm and gung-ho beauty serves as his arsenal and in songs such as I Wish You Were Here, Watercolour, Start Again and The Dreams I Have Of You, the purpose of the evening was met, a new hero for the crowd to take to their hearts, alacritous, wonderfully disposed to the audience and a musician to whom the phrase deserving of good things is more than appropriate, it is an instruction to those seeking a story to savour.
Ian D. Hall