Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Just watching Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts on stage for a short while is enough to confirm what the whispers and folk murmurings have been about for the last couple of years. To witness it live though is a pleasure that in some old fashioned way might feel as if it was knocking too much upon the memory for example of the likes of Ralph McTell, the genius of the narrative story laid out for all to see is worthy of the some of the greats of British Folk.
The audience inside the Atkinson in Southport had barely time to catch their collective breathe after a very cool and musically intriguing set by Rita Payne before the lights went down once more and what appeared before the crowd was a set of unimaginable beauty, of lush fiddle and supremely played guitar wrapped together with no seams showing and for good measure the sight of a crimson bow of excellent voice adjoining it together.
What else can a Thursday night be for other than listening to real music, real passion, the chance to relish the fire within the belly of a young musician up close and personal and hear them communicate in such a way that time seems to stand still. Time is its own master but it certainly knows when to stop the relentless march and pause for a while and take in music played by anyone who gives Time its due respect.
For respect is exactly what Gilmore and Roberts had, for their audience especially as they performed songs from the three albums and each one was in turn reciprocated with great fondness by each person who was bathed in the fiery glow of the candle light.
With songs such as Silver Screen, the tremendous Louis Was A Boxer, All I’ve Known, which was played with the most heavenly sounding violin, the excellent Doctor James and the touching The Book Seller’s Song all being performed to the great delight of the crowd inside the Atkinson’s studio, the evening was one in which Time decided to pull up a chair, sit back and cheerfully tap the side of its leg in eager anticipation of the next song. It certainly took its lead from all inside the hall and it was perhaps with a collective sadness when the night was formally over.
A stunning debut at The Atkinson for Gilmore and Roberts!
Ian D. Hall