Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You cannot help but admire the artist known as SheBeat. In terms of playing guitar she hasn’t been around all that long but anybody who can cut their teeth musically at the Ian Prowse Monday Night Club, who can turn a Beatles classic and make it have a completely different feel, almost invert into a melancholic beauty surely should at least be appreciated as well as admired.

SheBeat may have been quiet of late; life it seems can do that a person and put obstacles in the way in which they never imagined but the trick is to always keep a wary eye out for them and when they start interfering with things that you love doing then it’s time to step back and get to hammering life again. SheBeat recognised this and like the well thought of woman that she is, she hammered life back hard and in an entertaining set in the Liverpool Acoustic Stage of Threshold 2014, the bad effects of life surrendered.

With the song Mine and the emotive Freaky Ex being played early in the set, the addition of a new track called Rain Proof made sure that all those who were in attendance at The Baltic Social knew they were watching something rather cool and inspirational.

The inverted melancholy of She Loves You by The Beatles followed and hearing this song in the environment of a closed building rather than the sunshine packed courtyard of The BlueCoat did something extra to the meaning of the song. This is where the artist realises that to play a cover is acceptable but it needs new breathe, the opportunity for change and growth in which to thrive and flourish anew. By placing the song in the context of an inside room, the inverted feel, the desperate longing of a track which is truly a celebration becomes something dark, sombre, a reality check on those in the sad situation of being forced into a relationship by others and realising that you just don’t see the attraction. It is marvellous and clever stuff.

With the lovely expression laden song Lonely at the Top (A.K.A The Monkey Song) and Always On The Run finding their way into the set, this was indeed a day in which to cheer on the beauty of self-belief and determination. SheBeat once more showed that it is never too late to ever step on stage and make somebody’s day.

Ian D. Hall