Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
No matter how good the venue, no matter how respectable the recording history of the artist, sometimes going out on the road with an album that has generated such good feeling towards it, can seem a little dull when heard live in comparison to the image that the listener has built up in their head.
For Emily Smith that is not a problem, it all comes naturally to this woman and her two musical accomplices, Jamie McClennan and Matheu Watson; so much so that the evening at The Atkinson in Southport flowed like the River Ness on a calm summer’s day. The stillness of the audience, a respectful adoring pose in which to capture the flavour of the songs of a woman celebrating ten years doing something incredible, was palpable, the few hushed whispers exclaiming just how good a particular song was, lost in the avalanche of quiet deference and complete regard, the tidal wave of high praise and veneration in which nobody dare utter a word out of place on the off chance that they would miss even a single second of superior value in the performance.
This action was quite unnerving but wonderful to watch as the evening progressed and the music played by the three on stage was only punctuated by the applause of all inside the venue.
Folk evenings are always going to carry that extra little something around with them, the acoustics just made for the discreet and musically tranquil. The emotion is heavier and serene and throughout this gig the sense of occasion was not lost on anyone. The musician, plainly proud of her heritage and roots played tracks from the new album Echoes as well as some old personal favourites during the two 45 minute sets
Tracks such as Rere’s Hill, While Roving On A Winter’s Night, the excellent King Orfeo, Twa Sisters, the beautifully haunting My Darling Boy, Sweet Lover Of Mine, the gripping The Final Trawl, written by Archie Fisher and the astonishing The Hawk And Crow were just incredible to hear and the acoustics inside The Atkinson did much to carry Ms. Smith’s message into the hearts of all who attended.
A tremendous evening of music, one that could have carried on for hours and if you get the chance to see Emily Smith play then take it as your mind will be lost in the romanticism of thoughts of Scottish mist, the sound of a lonely violin and the voice of the angel asking you to join in the frolic and fun.
Ian D. Hall