Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

It might not quite be Anarchy in the U.K. but the spirit of women with attitude, the delivery of a demon and the manner of a Greek god chewing through the finer points of why Humanity is at the beck and call of its sisters lives well and with some tremendous flowering agility in the heart of Shamanarchy .

With Liverpool favourite Rowan Reid at the forefront of this exciting band, Shamanarchy have something a little extra tucked away in the pockets, they have amongst the strangely compelling music, laced with equal abundance with poise, sophistication and a burning deep anger which waits patiently for the catalyst to take her place. The combustible elements are all in place, the lyrics demanding but eloquent and then from out of nowhere the crowd inside District gets blasted full in the face with a sound so loud it makes the Space Shuttle Launches of the 1980s seem like a polite sneeze.

Kieran McKenna, Rowan Reid, Jack Thompson and Jack Williams seem to channel the spirits of groups that have played and wowed the audience in the venue’s previous incarnation of The Pickett, the defiance of the past somehow being picked up out of the air and thrown through an electric fence. This was a statement of intent by the foursome, the heat of the performance capturing all that is good in music. There is a long way to go, the band should be under no illusions but sweet anarchy was felt as the ground trembled at the thought of what could come in the future.

The band played a set which was at all times entertaining, just that touch dramatic, wonderfully boisterous and quite rightly placed Rowan Reid at the very centre of the attention. However, like a great championship winning side, the front person is as only as good as the supply they receive and in three male members of the band this was just verging on very high quality.

With songs in the set such As The Walls Crash Down, Houston Line, the very excellent What’s Inside A Girl, Addicted and Waiting Game, the musical advent calendar that keeps on giving in arguably the city of music, opened up another window for the soul to enjoy and immerse itself onto. Anarchy is exactly what it suggests, the purpose of the overthrowing of the established order in place of something new, Shamanarchy is that tantalising offering.

Ian D. Hall