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Caulfield Turns Storyteller At Surprise Concert American singer-songwriter Brandon Caulfield surprised fans at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday night at an end of year concert headlined by a number of local bands including two session musicians that Caulfield has worked with on his debut album. Brandon Caulfield was in the audience with Hannah Beth and during an intermission he was asked by Sarah Jade Harrison his former backing vocalist on his debut album if he would get up onstage and perform a little something, Caulfield apparently was a little reluctant to make the appearance as he still suffers badly from nerves but after a little encouragement from his former band mate and Hannah Beth he agreed to step into the spotlight for a couple of songs, the most surprising element of his performance was the short stories that he told prior to the two songs. The audience were in a festive mood prior to Caulfield taking to the stage and as the spotlight shone down on Caulfield and his acoustic guitar, he began to play a soft melody before introducing the song with a little story; Quote:“How you doing out there tonight? You know, this is a really special time of year, it may seem a little sentimental or nostalgic to say that but it really is. As a kid it’s the magic feeling that you get on Christmas Eve and as that slowly fades away over time and you outgrow those feelings, you find that it’s something different, be it the snow that’s perfectly resting on the ground or the chill in the air that somehow makes you feel so warm inside for many people it’s the chance to spend time with the people that mean the most to you and for me that’s what it is this time around.
I guess the memory that is most clear in my mind was when I was I guess 16 years old, back then me and my dad used to argue so much, you know? I had long black hair and dreams of getting out of my hometown, my dad never liked that, always telling me “Kid you gotta cut that hair and get yourself a job … What do you think you’re gonna do with your life? Be a Rockstar?” and man I used to hate it when he did that, I’d ask him to buy me a guitar that I seen in this old music store just outside of town, Man, he laughed in my face and said it was just a pipe dream, in the end I spent so much time outta the house because we just argued about everything, and in the winter months it was so darn cold I just wanted to be inside that house but I forced myself to stay away until late at night, anyway this Christmas I woke up, I made my way downstairs and into the front room, there was something wrapped up for me and sure enough it was that guitar, I tore the paper off of it and thought maybe, just maybe my dad believed in me, I looked at him and he just said, “Don’t look at me kid, it was your mom’s idea.” … and that’s pretty much what spurred me on to prove him wrong.” Following on from that short story Caulfield played a pretty eerie version of ‘Silent Night’ you could hear a pin-drop in the audience as the crowd were almost fixated on Caulfield for the entire performance, as always there wasn’t so much movement onstage from the singer-songwriter but the slow acoustic guitar playing and typically soft vocals from Caulfield had the audience enchanted, prior to the second song that Caulfield played, a new song called ‘Haunted Memories Of A Former Hero’ he addressed the audience with another story; Quote:“You know, when your growing up everything seems confusing. Your trying to figure out the kind of person that you are or that you’re gonna be for the next sixty years or more, your just trying to find out where your place is, you’re trying to figure out where you fit into in the grand scheme of things, some of us don’t have it easy, some of us work all the hours of the world just to make ends meet and still end up struggling, there’s a nobility in that, those people are the real heroes. It’s the guy that wakes up at six am and returns home at six pm, it’s the guys that are out there on the other side of the world fighting in order to keep us all safe, those are the icons … us, the musicians, the pilgrims, the punks, the poets, well we’re nothing, we’re just guys with a guitar trying to make sense out of the world, the reality is that nothing that I do really matters in the grand scheme of things, we get an easy life because we can put a few chords together on a guitar and make a song and that’s not right, when you see fans outside a music theatre talking about the bands like they’re heroes, that they’re getting ready to watch for what? An hour or two if you’re lucky.
So I want you to remember that the people heading out to work in the blistering cold every morning so that their wives, husbands, daughters or sons can eat at the end of the day, the people putting their lives on the line every single day for people that they’ve never even met, I want you all to remember that those are the heroes … not us.” He then played a track that tells the tale of a guy living in his former hometown that has now become the subject of rubble, regret and loneliness. The crowd eerily silent throughout his performance as Caulfield stood centre stage with an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulders and dark black hair almost covering his eyes, his vocals were emotional and heartfelt and you can’t help wonder, why doesn’t he perform more often. |
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