Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is perhaps beyond the compression or wildest dreams of any fan of music to understand what must go through the minds of the support act when they open up for what is considered a living legend. For many in a crowd just being in the vicinity of the front row of the gig is a claustrophobic and overwhelming prospect.

To be within sweat dribbling closeness of a hero is enough to let the fan-boy or girl out and the squeals of delight to be carried on the wings of an echo rampaging through the streets surrounding the venue, to play with careful consideration and with a stunned appreciation from a venue’s audience chomping at the bit to be taken back to perhaps their favourite moment in time, is the stuff of the educated dream.

For Linnea Olsson and Jennie Abrahamson, they were surely the most-coolest of souls in the Echo Arena, not just as they opened up for Peter Gabriel’s long awaited return to Liverpool but during the splendid part they played in the main event.

The two young Swedish musicians were introduced to the Echo Arena crowd with great joy by Peter Gabriel and for the far too briefest of times the pair performed with exceptional skill and dedication some of their own work for the delight of the assembled mass of humanity.

It is the measure and generosity of spirit for his fellow performers for which many regard Peter Gabriel with great admiration and in Linnea Olsson and Jennie Abrahamson this was no different. It was the most sincere of openings of a night that a Peter Gabriel fan could ask for and in the four songs that the two women performed they certainly won over a considerable amount of new fans in the Merseyside area.

The songs, Snow Story, Giddy Up, What? and Phoenix, were performed as such that the echo of the cello could still be imagined plucking a heart string or two long after they departed the vast stage. As introductions go, this was a meeting of minds for many in the crowd. The trouble normally associated with a support act being lost in the excited audible conversations of those in the auditorium were kept to a mind boggling minimum and it was down to the serious ability of the two musicians and the respect for a friend of Mr. Gabriel making their way in the world that was tangible and fulfilling.

New fans won over, the two departed off stage briefly, the stage as always set for a genius to appear.

Ian D. Hall