Unfortunately though, he struggles to be heard over the chatter of the crowd at the bar and it’s near the end of his set before anyone pays real attention. Towards the end, songs like ‘Yours Truly’ and ‘Ambulance’ stand-out. They make full use of the loop pedal and are engaging from start to finish. He grows in confidence by the end and you can see he has a lot more in the tank, but that’ll have to wait for another night. You get the feeling that there are big things to come from this man and that this time next year we’ll all be saying- “local boy gone and done good.”



Benjamin Francis Leftwich is waiting in the wings and hits the stage soon after. He’s been on a steady climb after the release of his album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ in mid 2011 and the Limelight has filled up nicely to judge for themselves what all the fuss is about. He kicks off with a solo version of ‘Pictures’ and the punters are finally called to attention.



Tonight is the last night of a long tour for Benjamin and his 3 strong band. It’s a tight performance and he plays the crowd like a pro, even getting a jibe or two thrown in - "Ed Sheeran is a nice lad, but I’m having more fun here than I would at the effing Brit awards!". It goes down a treat, Belfast loves a cheeky rebel. Other highlights include a cover of Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ and he even manages to get dead silence while he plays a number unplugged without any amplification, an achievement in itself.



The texture and formula of his music can be quite similar on record but tonight he has successfully mixed it up, kept it moving along nicely and thankfully it doesn’t get into that rut which is the mark of a seasoned performer. He has succeeded in endearing himself to this Belfast crowd, and a solid 2 song encore including the album-hit ‘Atlas Hands’ proves it. He leaves us on a high note and a sense that he’ll be round again before too long.



Good man Benjamin Francis, safe home.



Eamonn Murray