Live Review: Laura Marling, DD Dumbo

DD Dumbo opens up tonight's proceedings with a simple looped drum beat and his signature twangy guitar tones to present punters with something a little different before headliner. After a huge couple of years shooting himself into the limelight with the great success of his Tropical Oceans EP, DD Dumbo (real name Oliver Hugh Perry) is currently undertaking the task of putting together his debut album, and tonight's set is a delightful insight into what this record will offer. The set presents an array of tracks suitable to his mash-up genre of blues, psychedelia and indie-pop, which often leaves listeners intrigued as to how on earth this music sounds so good. Although the set is made up of a lot of unreleased tracks, Perry still manages to throw in his ever-so catchy track Tropical Oceans early on.

Laura Marling graces the stage to a room full of her devoted and loving fans at The Tivoli, accompanied simply by her steel guitar, a percussionist and bass player. She opens up with slow burn of Take The Night Off, which flawlessly transitions into I Was An Eagle, You Know and Breathe; a real delight for fans of Marling's 2014 release Once I Was An Eagle which presents most songs as if they interwoven with each other. Marling then drifts and dabbles among songs released under records I Speak Because I Can, A Creature I Don't Know, and her most recent release, Short Movie. It is a true testament to the singer-songwriter who, at a mere age of 25, has managed to build up a huge back-catalogue of charming and brooding folk songs. Although Marling seems dedicated to playing only recent material, she throws in a slightly 'shaky' rendition of her beloved track Ghosts, written by the songstress at the tender age of 17 and one which she had to relearn for the occasion by watching old YouTube videos of herself. Marling's charm and exceptional storytelling talents manage to keep the packed out Tivoli in silence for just over an hour; evidence of a magical and wondrous set.