Ben Howard Only Love

There's a lot to be said for an artist when, after opening his show with a simple hello, the crowd can barely calm down enough for him to start his first song. Ben Howard, the 25-year-old British singer-songwriter, was just signed last year to Island Records and is already selling out The Fillmore in San Francisco. Pretty impressive. His past year has been filled with noted TV performances, various sold-out shows in the UK and the US, an upcoming European tour and a rapidly growing fanbase.

Along with band mates India Bourne (cello/bass/drums) and Chris Bond (bass/drums), Ben Howard released his folk rock album Every Kingdom to a Top Ten debut in the fall of 2011 in the UK before releasing it on April 3, 2012 in the US.

During his vivacious set, Ben was extremely charismatic and natural on stage, frequently stopping to interact and have a few laughs with the audience. Ben's lyrics are positive and passionate, which he does a wonderful job transforming into music. With a broad ranging powerful voice and clear mastery of various guitars, he left the audience mesmerized. He's a true performer that, at a very early stage in his career, shows great understating of ebbing and flowing with his crowd.

I have to admit, I think the only bummer for the crowd was that he opted out on playing his cover of "Call Me Maybe." After various requests for the cover from the crowd and a very enthusiastic exit applause the band came back out wrapping their set with "The Wolves" instead. Still a pleaser nonetheless.

Wonderful performance. Thank you Ben, and come back to SF soon!