A Love Letter to PHM from Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly at People’s History Museum
Johnny James, Managing Editor
Joining People’s History Museum’s (PHM) 10th birthday celebrations is an artist who has just reached a significant landmark of his own. 15 years into his project Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, indie-folk hero Sam Duckworth knows how to woo a crowd. With Valentine’s Day a fitting occasion for a love letter, he and his band will be performing a set dedicated to PHM in the museum’s atmospheric Engine Hall.
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly won massive acclaim for his early records, The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager (2006) and Searching for the Hows and Whys (2008). These indie/folk/electronic crossovers were the coming-of-age soundtracks for many a Topman-clad indie kid looking to hear their own teenage angst sung back to them. Songs like ‘One More Time with Feeling’ and ‘War of the Worlds’ sang to the particular experience of mid-noughties adolescence, and resonated with millions.
In 2011, Sam dropped the Get Cape moniker for a super stripped-back album titled The Mannequin, followed by a return to pastures old with the harder-edged, band-supported Maps. Then came what seemed to be Get Cape’s swansong: 2014’s London Royal, a collection of unfinished works that were supported by a farewell tour.
Like most farewell tours, this only ushered in a new chapter. Rippling with newfound wonder, 2018’s Young Adult had one foot in the rave and the other in the sun-dappled 70s. Tracks such as ‘Always’ and ‘Adults’ pitted forlorn folk against electronica wanderings in a way that sounded newly inspired, thrilling fans who yearned for the spark that first ignited their love for the singer-songwriter.
Having toured heavily in both the UK and America ever since, Get Cape will be well-practiced to deliver a great performance in the Engine Hall at PHM. With whispers of something special planned to celebrate the museum’s work and impact over the past 10 years, this gig is a no brainer for long-time fans and late-comers alike.
