Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To be in Liverpool as a music fan you really do have to pinch yourself sometimes just to make sure that what you are feeling is true and not just a karmic evil spirit giving you a good time only to say at the end, “None of it was true, it was all a dream, how’s that for Karma; love the rest of the U.K.”

There are many cities and towns in the whole of the United Kingdom that do not even have one truly big name act or musician come their way even once a month, places in Cornwall, the rural towns of Oxfordshire and the home counties or even up in the Highlands of Scotland or the deep valleys of Wales, yet Liverpool, arguably the real culture capital, has two huge stars in the city on the same night as well as the undisputed local heroes giving the people of Liverpool a night away from the supposed mundane.

Whilst Dolly Parton was unquestionably wowing the crowd at the Echo Arena, Thea Gilmore was giving the type of exceptional performance that makes the heart sing longer than between nine and five and in which not even a fool would let go of the feeling of musical contentment emanating from the stage.

As Ms. Gilmore stated she had no new album in which to place before the audience for their approval, however it did mean that the gig was of a more friendly, confidential and snug affair, the songs more keenly bathed to the light of times past and not sounding as if the most important sensation was in which the sensitivity of new tracks would be exposed in possible harshness. The mood in the Epstein was certainly relaxed and sense of joyful consideration was keenly felt. It was an evening in which the crowds making their way to the Echo Arena could not have bought.

Accompanied by Nigel Stonier, the superb Liz Hanks on cello, Susannah Simmons on violin and Ms. Gilmore’s young

Thea Gilmore at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool, June 2014. Photograpg by Ian D. Hall.

son, Thea Gilmore gave the audience a night in which to have been proud of being at, to have satisfaction of hearing a voice in full flight and songs in which if they could grow wings would have surely soared high above the Liverpool skyline and held aloft a large banner saying, music at its most glorious this way!

A selection of old favourites and some truly classic covers greeted anyone who sat down in the Epstein Theatre. Aside from her own tracks such as the opener And We’ll Dance, Tear It All Down, Beautiful Hopeful, the prevalence of the anniversary perhaps uppermost in the crowd’s mind as Goodbye Old England was played with a true sense of timeless appeal, To The Bone and Love Came Looking For Me; Ms Gilmore also played, perhaps with great courage, a cover of The Beatles song All You Need is Love, a remarkable moment of music history in the Epstein with David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World and the grace of George Gershwin’s Summertime . If ever there was a set list in which to have you buzzing all the way back home, then Thea Gilmore at The Epstein was it.

No matter where you go in Liverpool, it seems as though there is always something on, the city might not have a lot but what it has, it arguably outshines the rest of the country with and on a hot evening in June, Thea Gilmore more than added to the sense of abundance.

Ian D. Hall