IN the corner of my dining room in a battered old case lies a vintage Paulo Antonio accordion. The sole inspiration for this whimsical purchase was accidentally stumbling across an online acoustic version of Edward Sharpe’s ‘Carries On’ from the amazing album Up From Below.
Sharpe and real life girlfriend Castrinos are absolutely bewitching to watch. Their chemistry is amazing and they are absolutely in tune and seemingly utterly in love.
After several hours on repeat, perfecting my vocal harmonies alongside Ed and Jade Castrinos, I convinced myself that if I could only master the accordion I was on a sure fire winner to hot foot it to the U S of A and spend the rest of my days sitting around camp fires with the zeroes following the gospel according to Sharpe, whilst my hair slowly evolved into dreds.
Edward Sharpe is the alter-ego of former Ima Robot vocalist Alexander Ebert “Edward Sharpe was an idea of a better version of myself, the me that I wanted to be when I was five years old — which I think is what all of us want to be.”
Ebert believes Sharpe is on a messianic mission to save the world through music and lyrics. Manchester Cathedral was a somewhat befitting location to welcome the self-professed saviour of mankind, and the congregation was out in force. Having missed their recent stint at Latitude festival due to work commitments I was overjoyed to learn the band were heading up North.
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
The most wonderful thing about watching Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes perform is that the whole band seem to feel truly blessed to be there on the stage. They revel in their performance and you never know what that performance will entail. They are constantly reworking tracks to make them feel fresh and revived and as an audience member you feel like you’re witnessing something new every time. Sharpe and real life girlfriend Castrinos are absolutely bewitching to watch. Their chemistry is amazing and they are absolutely in tune and seemingly utterly in love. What a wonderful world they live in.
The set list showcases some of the material from the latest album Here but is mainly made up of all the favourites from Up From Below. Every track is a winner in my humble opinion but favourites such as ‘40 Day Dream’, ‘Janglin’, ‘Carries On’ and finally the beautifully melodic ‘Home’ (which is the soundtrack to every road trip I’ve ever been on) had the crowd raising their arms in praise and dancing along like a gospel choir.
It’s a real collaboration; the audience participation and interaction is just as important as the performance. A wonderful event and an amazing evening presided over by a modern day prophet. I’m a Church Of Ed Sharpe convert. Praise be!
