Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To walk on stage infront of audience as a virtual unknown, to throw yourself upon the musical mercy of an audience that had been building themselves up for the main event, to do this whilst the spotlight glares down upon you and in some sort of electrical judgment has your life in the claws of its wiry hands and give a set of your own songs the type of true belief usually found in someone whose established credentials has seen them through a few decades; then you know you are witnessing the start of something that could go a long way to being a star of their generation.

For Lucy May, fresh back in England after recording new songs in America, the half hour she spent under the watchful gaze of a Philharmonic Hall audience, the spotlight trained upon her as if caught in the glare of a searchlight guiding home a long lost ship, was one in which to savour. To hear a voice, only accompanied by a single acoustic guitar player, which was rich, as precious as holding a new born baby and as splendid as holding aloft a much sought after trophy, was a very enjoyable way to start an evening’s entertainment.

The fertile ground upon which Lucy May scatters her musical seed will need constant care in which to become truly fruitful but in tracks such as the admirable Paper Heart, the sweet Rosemary Lane, the thought provoking Dishonest Things and Looking Out A Window, that fertile ground will surely be tended by the very best and have enthusiasts falling over themselves in which to keep an eye on her progress. It is progress that feels as though it will come as naturally as day follows night and peace follows the mightiest of thunderstorms.

The demoralising gaze in which many would wilt under as a new performer in town, the heat being generated off the light baring down upon her soon turned to one of comfort, the light a source which thwarted any negativity and beamed its approval with a gestured nod. Lucy May has her admirers, going by this performance there were many more in the Philharmonic Hall as she walked off to stage to heartening applause.

Ian D. Hall