Emilie & Ogden | The Castle Hotel | 2nd March 2016

Midweek in a rainy, cold Manchester, I had the opportunity to see a brand new indie folk act I'll admit I had never heard of before - Emilie & Ogden.  Before I get into Emilie & Ogden's set, I'll let you know about the fantastic support acts.  (Zoe Stirling) First there was Zoe Stirling, a former student of the Royal Northern College of Music. She's an acoustic, folk act with a really sweet voice. A few songs in, she shyly told us the crowd at the castle might be the biggest crowd she has ever played for. Zoe was very warmly welcomed and I'm sure we will see her more on the Manchester music scene.   (Shauna Mackin) Second was Shauna Mackin - already very well known on the Manchester Music Scene. She is a music graduate from The University of Salford - (where I graduated from as well!) Shauna usually plays with a full band but for this set she was only accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Her music is drenched in soul with hints of indie folk. She has a gorgeous soulful and strong voice, all of her songs are performed with passion and an endearing Irish charm.  The Castle Hotel was absolutely packed for a Wednesday evening, you would have thought it was a Friday night!  Now onto Emilie & Ogden - a truly unique act. Ogden is her harp which she accompanies her singing with. The second Emilie began playing and started to sing, she brought a very mystical aura over the room.  (Emilie and Ogden) It is very obvious when watching her perform, she is an immensely talented musician. Halfway through her set, Emilie explains to us how the harp is diatonic, like a piano. Throughout the set I was fixated on the way she played Ogden, you could see how much her music means to her with each string she plucked. During the performance there was total silence in the room as everyone was entranced by her sweet voice and musical talent, until the end of each song were the crowd erupted into applause. Her set was filled with songs from her new album, 10,000. She also played a song every man and his dog knows - Taylor Swift's Style.  I had never heard anything like Emilie & Ogden, I am grateful I had the opportunity to as it is introduced me to a brand new, unique indie folk act.  https://www.emilieandogden.com/ https://www.facebook.com/shaunamackinmusic/ https://www.facebook.com/zoestirling/ Pictures by https://www.facebook.com/TomCPhotos/