Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is good and bad news if you like or love music and you live with a gnat’s armpit of Liverpool. The bad news is, you will never hear everything that comes out of Merseyside, The Wirral or Cheshire. The fantastic news is, you will never hear everything that comes out of those same areas, for no matter how many nights a week you go out, no matter how pubs, venues or doorways you visit, there will always be someone new of interest to come along and shake your cosy perceptions up and who will add new colour to the proceedings.

Such is the case with Liz Owen as she came on stage at the Philharmonic Hall in support to Joan Armatrading on her farewell tour.

There is nothing like the time when your ears dance happily along to a new set of songs. The effect of the performance as the senses slap you around for not having had the foresight or wit to just roll down every single street and tidy avenue, knock on every door and ask if anybody in the house is likely to pick up a guitar or swoon over a violin in the next twenty years. For that is as close to the sensation you get when that person gets on stage and your unfamiliarity with their work takes a wonderful bashing.

Liz Owen cuts a remarkable figure on stage, her voice even more so. Deep, forceful, a shy retiring sense of humour which is playful and honest dwells within. Yet that voice dominates the air to the point where the Philharmonic Hall audience has to be quiet, has to take in the gravitas that abounds and it is a stirring sight to behold.

Songs such as the instrumental opener Back and Forth, What Did I Do?, Ghosts, Already Won, Since You Left and the tremendous Falling gang up on the silence generated by the stillness in the air. The electricity starts to build up, small sparks dance and play and by the time Liz Owen finishes, Joan Armatrading’s audience are truly warmed up, the ideal sought and completed.

It is one of the great things about Liverpool and the surrounding areas, not everybody can see everybody ever perform but if you are fortunate to see someone as interesting, as enjoyable as Liz Owen, then privilege is to be thanked.

Ian D. Hall