Touring her second album and first with a full band, the former Bonnie Prince Billy backing singer Angel Olsen makes her way to Newcastle, bringing with her, her friend Rodrigo Amarante who takes to the stage alone, the packed audience make him feel nothing but welcome.

He flits between English and Portugese as he serenades us with his delicately picked acoustic guitar and well-chosen words. Delivered in a soft, sweet manner Amarante seems genuinely touched by the crowd’s reaction this evening. At the same time it is nothing less than he deserves, we’re blown away by the delicacy and beauty as the man bares his soul in front of us.

In something of a contrast Angel Olsen takes to the stage with her band, and her voice is as beautiful as Amarante’s if not more so. Yet there is a much fuller sound filling our ears - Angel’s beautiful Americana infused indie rock. Theres a real passion in the early part of Angel’s set, and whilst the band is there her voice upstages everything.

She is almost motionless whilst delivering her heartfelt tracks, and numbers such as ‘Stars’ sound exquisite; the music becoming supplementary to the lyrics, and whilst there is little movement on stage, it adds to the captivating element of the performance. We’re seduced by the power of Angel’s voice, as if it were a spell of some sort.

‘Lights Out’ possesses a phenomenal Americana quality to it; Angel’s set evolving in front of our eyes. The earlier parts are much folkier, though as she traverses into Americana ‘Lights Out’ is arguably one of the stand-out tracks of the evening. The gorgeous guitars fill our ears as a deep pain fills her voice and we’re like over-excited teenagers as she raises the tempo even more.

The latter part of the set is a much rockier affair, reminiscent of another favourite of ours Courtney Barnett. ‘Forgiven / Forgotten’ is a brilliantly brash slab of lo-fi , perhaps a simpler track than some of the earlier ones but one that doesn’t fail to provoke a hefty crowd reaction. As Angel chants “I don’t know anything.” The awesome fuzzy guitars are a welcomed break to the quieter sounds of earlier on this evening.

Angel closes out her set with a beautifully spaced out cover of ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac, another personal favourite of ours but this version takes this song to a whole other level. As the band leave the stage Angel remains for one final track ‘May as Well,’ another beautiful song filled with heart and a complete contrast to the latter part of the set, yet it compliments them so well despite its sad tone. A truly fitting end to what has been a very special evening.

A couple of months later than normal, due to the opening of the Unity Works venue and it being a sensible idea to make use of the place's great facilities as the showpiece venue of the event, Wakefield once more played host to Long Division over the weekend of September 12 - 14.  Our reporting here is limited to the performances on Saturday the 13th as we were unable to get a writer in to see The Cribs play on the previous day - a welcome sign of the festival's growing popularity (as was the fact of there being a fringe event on the same day at The Hop. Fawn Spots put in a good show at that).

Graziers (one of the event's other new venues this time around) was our first point of call for some good loud, local indie rock delivered al fresco by Alpha Shallows. Later in the evening Knuckles were on in the same marquee, managing to keep the guitar & drums duo thing interesting with some ribald banter along with their full-on sound characterised by the likes of 'Ejector Seat' and 'Dirty Pearls'. 

Warehouse 23, scene of last June's Fall performance in temperatures of sauna proportions, didn't get a lot of attention from us this time around but we caught the opening couple of numbers by local rockers Gunnarson, who have an element of the Hellacopters about them, albeit with less convincing vocals.

Gruff Rhys was the first act we took in at the Unity Works, midway through the afternoon. Concentrating solely on his current American Interior work his set was unfortunately affected by early technical issues and despite some funny banter the audience were clearly less than fully engaged with the overall performance or the core idea behind the journeys that inspired it. Patterns, ILikeTrains, TOY, headliners The Wedding Present and then Islet made up the other acts that we took in either in the venue's excellent main hall or in it's smaller performance space on the top floor.

Of those we were probably too tired to properly enjoy Islet in their post-23:00 slot but they did enough to make it clear that seeing them again in the future is a good idea. Patterns were enjoyably melodic and clean-cut whilst ILikeTrains didn't come over as I'd expected from their records but were a good watch with probably the best light show of the day. TOY also pulled off a good, in your face, performance for which the bulk of the audience were unjustifiably static. As headliners The Wedding Present didn't fail to pepper their set with the requisite number of old favourites ('My Favourite Dress' etc.) as well as brand new song 'Secretary' which got its first live outing.

Act of the day for me though were Theo Verney, playing in the odd location of 'posh' nightclub Panama and separated from the audience by a distance of at least 8 feet before a line of crash barriers provided something to lean on. Witnessed by a tiny crowd that can be happy they made the decision to wander along the trio belted out their set as if their lives depended on it. Personable lads they were clearly amused at the levels of security in place to protect them from the baying horde and also the Death Star-like mirror ball that was (uselessly) suspended above them. Both Theo Verney & Islet will be on at the Liverpool Psych Fest this coming weekend so a re-visit with both is definitely on my to do list.

Seldom few artists take to the stage as part of the support band. However, this evening is somewhat different with the crème de la crème of Welsh music on show. First up this evening is one of our favourite up and coming acts H. Hawkline; his dulcet welsh tones mesmerising, his stories touching.

He has the most beautiful songs, and tracks like ‘Rainy Summer’ for example tug on the heartstrings. There’s a real depth and heart to this evening's set, a real star in the making. What we can’t help but notice though is that Huw’s backing band is made up of both Sweet Baboo and Cate Le Bon herself, turning tonight in to a real family affair.

With a very short break we find ourselves being hustled back into this beautiful venue as Cate Le Bon takes to that stage. Opening up with the fabulous ‘No God,’ the darkened stage and the black clad band adding to the atmosphere. Highlighting an apparent interest in choreographed dance moves, Cate struts around the stage making her presence truly felt.

That is the striking thing about Le Bon is the way she commands the stage, the beauty of her songs shines through but so too does her impressive presence. One track, which really stands out head and shoulders above the others, is ‘I Can’t Help You.’ The paisley influence to it is absolutely brilliant. piquing our interest from its opening chords.

Her beautiful delivery adds to the delicacy of the lyrics, and there’s something truly captivating about her performance. We’re entranced by this set, especially when Cate delivers the big guns in the form of a rousing rendition of ‘Wild’. The earlier delicacy is thrown out of the window, replaced by something altogether different.

We’re blown away by the change in tempo it’s a garage rock behemoth that takes us by surprise. Cate is taking the opportunity to show all of her facets, moving effortlessly from this highly energetic track to the much more chilled out ‘The Man I Wanted' in what's a restoration of the earlier beauty, and if anything this is slightly more relaxed. It is safe to say this evening is something of a roller coaster.

Cate seems convinced that she sounds sarcastic because of her accent, but we believe her and we’re sure she was truly enjoying herself this evening. She closes out with the brilliant ‘Fold The Cloth,’ the track possess so many of this evenings elements. There's the screeching guitars and delicate vocals; the perfect culmination to this evening's main set.

Returning to the stage, Le Bon treats us to a cover of Thin Lizzy’s iconic ‘Wild One,’ there couldn’t be a better way to end this evening as Cate puts her own spin on this classic track. We cannot help but swoon over the beauty this evening held, Cate has captured both our hearts and minds with her stage presence, and at times, ear splitting volume.

Photo: Al Goold

The Wild Curve released their first tracks online just a few months ago but the Glasgow synth-pop duo didn't need much time at all to persuade the likes of BBC Radio 1 and XFM (as well as numerous music blogs from across the globe) of their ability to write quality, memorable songs. During all this time the internet offered no information about who The Wild Curve were with 'Diamonds' and 'Warriors' as the only evidence of their existence. Sooner or later though, they had to put on a live show.

The band's debut in Glasgow's Berkeley Suite is sold out, and having released only two songs, The Wild Curve already have a bunch of loyal fans. And after tonight, they definitely earn a few more. The band finally reveal more of their music, which bears some of the best traits of 'Diamonds' and 'Warriors': summery up-beat tunes, powerful drums and catchy melodies – exactly what Glasgow's music scene's been needing.

Their first live effort is very much like their music, energetic (exhibit 1: the flying drumstick), fresh and enjoyable – both for the crowd and, as it definitely shows, for the band. It's easy to see how much effort has gone into planning the show with every detail carefully thought through, and if your band is putting on a gig you better talk to The Wild Curve about lighting. They really know what they're doing. Heavy synthesisers, powerful vocals and dynamic drums combined with larger-than-life light effects are what make the duo's performance so special. Who knows, maybe in a few years, when The Wild Curve aren't playing such small venues, those who missed this gig will regret it.

There is a clear distinction between artists that live for live shows and those who would much rather lock themselves up in the studio. The Wild Curve no doubt belong to the first group. The stage might as well be their second home and surely everybody present at The Berkeley Suite tonight would agree. Here's hoping it won't be long till their next (and probably sold out) show.