Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is a natural tendency to see a band perform in one setting and immediately wonder how they would sound somewhere else, how they would grab the attention in a smaller venue, one on a larger, perhaps more acoustically challenging and accustomed to the rigours that come the way of a young band making inroads in the career. That natural tendency is born out wanting to see the band do well and hearing songs that made your heart flutter initially, but also the dreadful spectre of betting against yourself that surely without reasonable doubt, they cannot be as good as the first initial contact made with them.

It is tendency that is natural but arguably undeserving; especially in a younger band whose entire craft and life awaits them. The thought that talent can be taken away, destroyed in a matter of weeks and without the aid of advancing years to push them along is quite absurd, different styles may be tried, experimentation employed and further expression sought, but nobody ever loses that spark.

For The Hazel Empire, the bigger stage suits them well, it allows their music, already the heady mixture and grasping electrical charge of ethereal and the earthy, to soar, to reach out in ways that might unfortunately be lost in a smaller venue and for Grace Hartrey, Jorunn Sundett and Nadia Bounasser, and their recently acquired percussion Amanda Scheibertm and Jonathon white and the graceful addition in front of their peers of the four backing vocalists Line, Emilie, Karen and Marie, this was a gig in which everything came into play and was revelled in by all watching in the Sir Paul McCartney auditorium.

The songs, already infectious on some minds as they wormed their way through to the vital pleasure centres of the brain, were enthusiastically received by a strong crowd and thankfully posterity, being beamed live back to Norway for families and friends to see over there. Tracks such as the opener What Am I To Do With You?, the truthful Harvey, the sheer beauty of Gekko, Gordie, Clouds and the finale of Colours, all emphasised hjust how good this band sounds, how rich in depth the resonance and the closeness in harmony felt between the three leads is.    

A great chance to see this wonderful group in their own natural environment, The Hazel Empire thrilled beyond measure!

Ian D. Hall