Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Staying in is sometimes too tempting an offer. The chance to baton down the hatches, especially in what could be a cruel winter, is not just tempting, it can be so enticing and you would only be human to succumb. However in an area that really makes other places, towns and large urban societies look upon it with envious eyes when it comes to its abundance and well attended music venues, that temptation must be fought and beaten, especially when you come across a support act for a major star that just gets every musical juice flowing and the blood pumping round a body that is desperate to be assured that it’s alive.
For Jack Omer, the man and the guitar are almost seamless, the join hardly noticeable, no sign of a dropped stitch anywhere that could cause the music to run and unravel at any point. For all those inside Zanzibar that had been wowed by the incredible start supplied by Alexandra Jayne and who thought that before Thom Morecroft and The Full Moon Band and the main act of the night they might just get a set in which to nod politely and then applaud courteously whilst they got the excitement levels under control, they would have been sadly mistaken, what they got was a set by a young man that was acoustically wonderful and vocally dynamic. Any thoughts of courteously applauding were soon replaced by genuine love and affection, the praise whispered audibly but with a quick excited fervour.
Anybody who had left their home secretly bemoaning leaving the warmth afforded them by the energy companies would soon have had a warm glow settling upon them as Jack Omer took the crowd on an acoustic trip of songs that included The Old Familiar Bed, the rampant crashing sound of The Golden Shore, the real vibrancy of Dark Inside The Whale and Dry Your Tired Eyes. This was the sound of a man who really relishes the live arena and even just the simple act of sitting on a chair and playing to an interested crowd speaks volumes for the man’s appeal, the sheer aggression of his words captured in the velvet glove of his demeanour, very much in the mould of a young Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam.
The generous applause that greeted Jack Omer as he finished his lengthy set was not just genuine; it was heartfelt and utterly profound. Surely if this young can make it back to Liverpool again, the audience will demand more of the same.
A great surprise in an evening of very good music!
Ian D. Hall