Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There really is nothing like being at a gig, no other experience comes close; not even a hot date with your dream partner captures the humid, extra special occasion that music in the raw can bring to the mind.

Watching a gig with the benefit of multiple camera angles, heavy editing, producer’s sticking their oar in and a whole host of other gadgets and buttons at their disposal is like asking for a simple steak dinner and then seeing it come in 30 bowls, all designed to supposedly enhance the experience but leaves you wishing that the steak had arrived in piece and you could eat it how you want. A D.V.D recording of a concert will never replace the live experience, however for those that cannot make a gig for whatever reason, health, finances, not wishing to travel half way round the world and eat food that tastes fairly bland, the live stream experience is not a bad substitute, especially when L.I.P.A. graduate in waiting Nadjia takes to the stage.

There is no comparison to be made but at least watching a talented artist as she is performing on stage live is something that should be experienced at least once and thanks to L.I.P.A.’s multi international feel, by watching 2ube Extra’s livefeed, performers like Nadjia get to be seen for what they are, a towering strength of industry and exceptional presentation.

For anybody who has watched this young woman since she first hit the streets of Liverpool, this culmination of stage theatrical presence, ethereal music designed to brush the heart as if it was made out the finest velvet and a voice that would have sirens on the rocks of ancient Greek legend hang their heads in shame at their lack of commitment to the cause, was enough to convince, if such means were necessary, that Nadjia is a hell of a talented musician and songwriter.

With tracks such as Time Is Not A Creature To Be Tamed, Learn, The Minute and Waterboard, Nadjia was composed, serene, dream-like and sincere in her delivery of her last performance as a student of L.I.P.A., but as the live feed showed, there was devilish glee in her face, the look of apprehension wonderfully missing in action, the only emotion aside from pure concentration was the huge smile that crossed her face at all times.

Nadjia has been one of the finds of this year’s crop of students leaving L.I.P.A, fun to watch, beautiful to hear; she is a performer with an abundance of hope placed upon her shoulders, however she is strong enough and brilliant enough to cope with it. Stunning is too short a word to describe her music but it is the one that is perhaps most suitable.

Ian D. Hall