Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Some musicians just radiate warmth and a sort of musical love as soon as they step on a stage. Without even playing a note on a guitar, just by the simple motion of saying hello to a collected crowd, the affection is felt around you. Whoever has come to take in the musician’s work, be it friends, fans or the surprised newcomer, what comes palpably across is the thought that everybody who is watching just wants the musician to succeed. In that respect the warmth felt for Simon Cousins could keep a large town’s heating suppliers out of business for a long while.

The Liverpool singer-songwriter gave credence to the notion that sometimes just hearing music is enough to change a life, the legacy of any musician to make an audience think and take their lyrics and run with them, to make someone smile inwardly even when times are so tough no one could blame them for breaking down and giving in is what music has, it is what art contains compared to the cold brutal and sometimes harsh reality of science.

Simon Cousins is generous enough in spirit to recognise the power of words and his gentle humour and kind demeanour reflected that as he performed in the Bluecoat Garden. With tracks such as My Guitar and Me and the beautiful Loved You When We Met opening up the set, the tracks floating through the air as if they were butterflies being let loose from a collector’s net in a moment of humanity and reason, Simon Cousins gave a great account of himself in such a short time.

His collection of songs, both his own personal tracks and the large abundance of covers available to him complement each other so well that the musician could have played for a couple of hours and no one would have been bored or persuaded to leave the gardens.

With a packed afternoon still infront of the audience, Mr. Cousins gently steamed through his set and with tracks such as Sometimes A Fool, the very cool Loves Counterfeit and a very enjoyable cover of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ classic song Three Little Birds.

Bank Holidays are meant to be a time of social ease, the chance to lay back and relax and for anybody catching the dulcet tones of Simon Cousins under the auspicious eyes of Liverpool Acoustic will have felt all the cares in the world simply drain away and a certain calmness descend upon them. Very cool and very serene, Simon Cousins is a great find.

You can find out more about Simon Cousins at www.sicousins.co.uk.

Ian D. Hall