I went to see Newton Faulkner in Manchester last night, as part of a street team - and I was blown away. I saw him first supporting Paolo Nutini a few months ago, and hoped that I’d be able to see him playing a full set sometime in the near future.

He was at ‘Club Academy’ in Manchester, which is a very small and intimate venue with only a few hundred people. It was great to be only a few feet away, and not feel like you were bring crushed like a sardine. He played all the songs that I know and have heard before - Into the Light, UFO and I Need Something to name a few. He also played several tracks off his new album which sounded fantastic. It’s not often you hear and song and like it immediately, but that seems to be the case with most of Newton’s material.

He’s also a sheer genius at interacting with an audience - getting people completely enthralled with the gig and his performance. Everyone loves him, helped hugely by his performance of certain covers such as Teardrop (Massive Attack), the theme tune from Ice Age and the Spongebob Squarepants song.

I think Newton really has the potential to be incredibly successful - his new album (Hand built by robots) comes out in a couple of weeks, and I’d recommend having a listen on his My Space page and buying it from iTunes if you like what you hear. Passionate personality, passionate music, and an all round great guy.