In the beautiful setting of Westonbirt Arboretum, hardcore Paul Weller fans were scattered all across the open field that was set up for the first night of this years Forest Live concert series.

A beautiful sunny evening, concert goers brought picnics, chairs and blankets for what was going to be a very comfortable and enjoyable evening!

The second act of the night, Far From Saints took to the stage and were met with a great cheer. Many people, myself included, got up from our picnic chairs and blankets and rushed to the front to get a closer look.

Dwight, Kelly and Patty stood centre with the rest of the band behind, all looking bright and happy to be there.

Beginning the set with one of three songs released so far Screaming Hallelujah, this is the first song the band wrote together and in fact Kelly’s first ever co-write. The trio and the band played the track perfectly and of course Kelly and Patty sung it flawlessly.

Singing along to every word, I actually felt quite emotional! Far From Saints may be a new band, but already they have made quite an impact on me. Their debut album is even a contender for my album of the year.

Straight into Let’s Turn This Back Around, chills started to form listening to Patty’s stunning tone and the beautiful way her and Kelly’s vocals intertwine so perfectly.

Let’s Turn This Back Around is such a remarkable song but live, it was even better. I really hope to catch it live with a strings section one day, it will be phenomenal. Kelly mentioned in our interview that they will have strings when they perform it on Jools Holland.

Dwight’s guitar playing was fabulous and the whole band were exceptional. I was drawn to Dwight’s friendly smile that he often gave the audience.

Patty got to showcase her skills as an extraordinary singer during Take It Through The Night. This rock edged tune soared throughout the Arboretum and caught pretty much everyone’s attention.

Drinking Tea, Patty says she has been here for so long now that she is turning into a brit.

“A song about Resilience” Kelly addresses the crowd. “This song’s called Gonna Find What’s Killing Me”.

A song from the debut album released June 16th, Gonna Find What’s Gonna Killing Me is a more chilled out song and absolutely stunning. A song that is more reminiscent to Stereophonics material in places than most of the tracks, this tune was wonderfully emotive.

A Stevie Knicks and Tom Petty cover with Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, this of course was familiar to a lot of the audience.

Patty informed us that the next song, Let The Light Shine Over You is Owen, the drummer’s favourite song. A folk/country track with a nice The Wind and The Wave stamp to it, this song is a live music beauty and perfect for open aired concerts and festivals. It’s just so delightfully light and colourful in its words and melody.

The Ride was next. This song has an outlaw country music feel to it! It translates very well in a live setting. If you are a country music fan then you will love this song! The songs instrumental flowed into an infectious lengthy cover of Spirit In The Sky!…. I think???? Kelly’s guitar skills are insane!

A cover of The Ronettes Be My Baby got the very much engaged crowd singing a long. Many drinks in at this point, the audience were at a very merry stage and enjoying themselves immensely.

The last song was a Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers cover of American Girl. Kelly Jones had mentioned earlier in the evening how Tom Petty and Stevie Knicks were big influences for the formation of Far From Saints.

A highly memorable set that I felt privileged to have been witness to, Far From Saints are so much more than a support act. The fact that Kelly Jones, Stereophonics frontman and the members of The Wind and The Wave are of course the bands members helps but new projects don’t always work but FFS definitely do!

The chemistry on stage was that of a beautiful friendship and it showed. Once the debut album is out, their live shows are going to be even better and we can’t wait to catch them live again to soak up more of their album tracks live!

The start of the summer festival season for us, I couldn’t have asked for a better band to begin this years summer events with!

FFS, now I want to go see them live again!

Pre order their debut album here there are even signed copies.