Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Little Sparrow at the Music Rooms in Liverpool. April 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
It is natural to miss someone, to let time go past in such a manner that you find the song, that special reason you were drawn to them as a human being in the first place, takes upon itself to be treated like a fine shroud, delicate and interwoven with the days and weeks of since last you saw them, woven with gold silk, the voice that would have captured the soul of Homer’s Odysseus, still resonating around the concert venues of Liverpool and beyond.
It is natural to miss someone, it is harder to understand that due to Time and the fabric of life being demanding and the clock insisting that the hours and minutes be filled in a modern epic re-telling of the Greek soldier’s voyage home, that you might never get the chance to hear the voice live again.
Time is as Time does, For Little Sparrow, the ever impressive Katie Ware, Time has moved on relentlessly, influences outside of the arena and halls have kept her busy and occupied, the fear in many minds would be whether they might be fortunate to see this talented woman again in the Liverpool domain, possibly well founded. It is though impossible to keep the song of the sparrow down, for when the song needs to be heard, when it heralds a new dawn, or at least a fresh start, then the sparrow’s voice can beat that of the lark, or that of the nightingale.
It is that memory returned to Liverpool audiences as Little Sparrow returned to a hero’s welcome, Odysseus in female form, to the Music Room of the Philharmonic Hall, alongside Liverpool’s Elfin Bow as part of the famed Liverpool Acoustic night in a double headline bill that really wetted the appetite and caught the imagination fully prepared and alert.
It is the tenderness in Little Sparrow’s voice that makes an audience swoon, it is the innate pleasure of performing and sharing stories with the crowd that makes the evening flow with a sense of energetic serenity, punctuated with the passionate way of communicating the message and anecdotes, Time and the siren going hand in hand, for the music voyager stands no chance of ever withstanding such sounds.
In songs such as the opener Polly, Memories Maid, Sending The Message, I Found A Way, in new vocal experiences such as Old News and Spider and a tremendous duet with Elfin Bow on the song Wishing Tree, Little Sparrow once more sent the hours, weeks and months packing, almost decree like, she announced in her always good humour and infectious pattern of imparting information to the crowd, that the Little Sparrow had returned and that all was going to be well.
It is natural to miss a performer when they are not on stage, we can only ever hope that the time in between Time is one filled with the knowledge that the song will return, that their own particular voyage sees them stand majestic on your shores once more.
Ian D. Hall