Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
No matter the venue, no matter the time of day, to catch one of the finest female performers around live is a must.
Natalie McCool has already cemented her growing reputation, not just in a city that looks to her as one of their own, but also further afield. Anybody who makes their way to see her and sees the unhindered blaze in her eyes stoking fire from the very pit of her stomach and channelling it through her incredible talent; will be taken on a journey by a woman who epitomises the very heart of music. She is a woman whose devastating, almost coy, smile can bring as many goose bumps to the skin as the simple yet haunting way that her guitar manages to with stunning effect.
Although Ms. McCool, wasn’t the main attraction of a night of music at District, the new name for the much loved Picket, as she performed her set against the backdrop of ghosts that had stood on the same stage and who you could imagine nodded their approval at the young woman’s ability, she nonetheless took the crowd gently by the hand and held up a mirror to their own soul.
The goose bumps came along early, as Ms. McCool handed the crowd a reason to feel the warmth of the season and also think what exactly life is for as she performed the outrageously good track America and then followed up this brilliant song with Fortune and the Johnny Marr inspired track Dust & Coal.
As wonderful as the opening part of the short set was, the finish was spectacular. Not content with putting a huge smile on those present by performing a very classy cover of the legendary Greg Lake’s I Believe In Father Christmas, arguably one of the best festive songs ever laid down on record. She also teamed up with the young gifted Liverpool musician Dominic Dunn to play a double header of two tracks being merged into one, with the resulting mash up which included Natalie’s Thin Air sounding just absolutely stunning.
If only you capture the essence of Natalie McCool and show other young women in other parts of the country exactly what can be done with confidence, blistering ability and charm, whether in the arts or not, then perhaps this would do so much more good for the women’s movement, a superb role model and a cracking musician.
Ian D. Hall