Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It’s not the first time that Liverpool has given musical shelter to Ben Montague in his short but very obviously interesting and successful career so far but it will arguably go down as the performance in which he was more relaxed and at ease with himself and full of self deprecating humour than any other. It was a sight and aural sensation in which those who made their way to the Philharmonic Hall early enough ahead of Suzanne Vega’s first visit to Liverpool in eight years took very much to their hearts.

There is always a train of thought that sits in the back of any audience’s minds when they book tickets for a musician that they really want to see, the thought of do they get to the venue in time to make sure the support act is made to feel welcome or to sit in the bar, chat, take in the ambience of another fine gin and tonic and perhaps shoot not just the breeze but the time too. For those choosing the former on a hot June evening, the sound of the odd bead of sweat running down the back of the neck audible as far as the Gladstone Dock and the resonance of the previous night’s gig by Liverpool favourite Elvis Costello still rustling in the eaves and the floorboards of the Philharmonic Hall stage, they were not to be disappointed with their decision.

Ben Montague was perhaps the most perfect opener for Suzanne Vega that the Philharmonic Hall audience could have hoped for. A man with a semblance of the musical genius about of him and one to whose voice leapt between fascination and absorbing allure at all times, this was a match made in some other realm, a complement of tastes which was just intriguing, as well as musically adored.

With a set list running to half a dozen songs, Time took no prisoners with the period on offer but it was a challenge well met and the songs Rainy Day, Runaway, which was making its live debut, My Father Said, Haunted, Another Hard Fall and Sweet Amelia all drove the point home that this is a young man to whom intriguingly beautiful is not just a by-word to flippantly bandy around like a crossword puzzle clue, but to whom it is the very embodiment of his craft.

To those that always make their way into greeting the support like an old friend, the metaphorical handshake was one that was greeted with a tender and open heart, a wonderful way to open any show.

Ian D. Hall