Sandi Thom, Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Sandi Thom started the summer going for great British blues musicianship with her extraordinary album Flesh and Blood and where she led, others have followed and produced stunning works of art. So much so that to keep ahead of the likes of Beverley McClennan and Joanne Shaw Taylor, her live set has had to be something exceptional and at Eric’s in Liverpool she delivered.

Armed to the teeth with a brooding talent and musicians that captured the audience’s desire for an evening that was pure electricity, Sandi Thom, undoubtedly one of Scotland’s finest musical exports tantalised and thrilled a crowd with some excellent music and some touching moments of brilliance.

The cold may be biting early this autumn but inside Eric’s the temperature was rising quicker than an over eager man looking after a summer barbeque. Kicking off the night with the opening track from the new album, the cracking Help Me and quickly following it up with Stormy Weather set the standard for the evening. As the evening progressed the notches would be raised so high that even on the more serene numbers, the intensity would be palatable and keenly felt throughout the audience which only drove the expectation up further.

This was not a night to revel in just music from a new album; there would have probably been no dissenters however if Ms. Thom had decided to do the new album in its entirety, however not one to back away from the songs that bought her into the national conscious, Sandi Thom and her stunning band performed three tracks during the set from her debut album Smile…It Confuses People.

These three songs, I Wish I was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair), Human Jukebox and Castles were greeted as warmly and enthusiastically as any song all evening. Songs from Flesh and Blood to get an airing to an excited crowd at Eric’s included the electrifying I Owe You Zero and Big Ones Get Away.

With five years under her belt of having lived in the city of Liverpool, there was a genuine kinship between the audience and the performers on stage, something that occasionally gets lost when a performer comes to the city once every couple of years.

A riveting, pulsating and demanding set met with passion by both crowd and performer alike.

Ian D. Hall