Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, on tour to celebrate 15 years of his ‘era-defining’ Chronicles album

Get Cape. Wear Cape, Fly is the alias of British indie-folk-rock musician Sam Duckworth. Get Cape has released six albums, the latest Young Adult in 2018, a number of singles, the latest “Drift” from 2021 and EPs, the latest Hold Tight from 2020. But Sam is currently on tour with a full band to celebrate the 15^th anniversary* of what started it all, his first album The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager which has been beloved by fans ever since, a seminal record of the early-2000s. Over 100,000 sales later, Chronicles is still a relevant soundtrack for a society still wrestling with political and social issues including racial integration and sense of worth, and both musically and lyrically has stood the test of time. If you’ve not listened to the album, now is your time. If you are able to catch the tour, you will be treated to the full album playback, with full band including rhythm and horn sections. A treat indeed. We saw the show on the sixth night of the nineteen-date run, at Portsmouth’s The Wedgewood Rooms. (*15^th became 16^th due to the pandemic).

Get Cape opened the show with three songs from his more recent catalogue, before playing the twelve songs of The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager in album order. Sam played the first album song “Once More With Feeling” and a later song “Lighthouse Keeper” solo, the rest joined by his superb band.

Between the songs, Sam was wonderfully engaging with the audience, known for speaking up on political and social issues he cares about. He was modest, heartfelt, engaging, and a little nostalgic. Sam told the crowd that his uncle used to live in Portsmouth, the venue for tonight’s show, so he would visit the town a lot. He said there were similarities with his hometown of Southend; that ‘seaside people’ have something in common. The concept of home, that sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it. It’s what his song “Lighthouse Keeper” is all about, and it was the perfect introduction to then playing the song. The crowd were hugely attentive, with many singing along to every word, of every song.

As the end of the set approached, Sam told the crowd there were only two songs left, and no encore as that is indeed the end of the album. Someone in the crowd shouted to “play them all again”, and I think everyone in the room, Sam included, would have very much liked to.