David Shepherd – Saturday 5.30-6.00 pm – City Inn

Review of ArtsFest by visitor Andy Wright:

It’s not everyday that you get to sit in a comfortable chair in the centre of Birmingham and watch a real life flamenco guitarist up close. The City Café is intimate, and it suits Sonanta Flamenca’s delicate and captivating brand of flamenco down to the ground. David Shepherd is a remarkably accomplished guitarist, and with the help of his percussion section, he takes us on a half hour journey through the occasions, emotions and moods of Southern Spain. He also, rather kindly, introduces each different style that he plays with a short history of how that particular style came to be. Not content to merely entertain, it seems that David intends to educate his audience as well, and we lap it up. The set flows expertly between light and dark, from mournful laments to joyful revelry, plus a sprinkling of pure showmanship thrown in for good measure. All too predictably, it’s raining outside, but my head is so full of thoughts of blistering sunshine, bullfights and gypsy weddings that, when I get back to my car, I don’t even notice I’m soaked.