Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Throughout the travels and tribulations sometimes endured in the wonderfully never ending search of new music in which to spend time with, the support act is perhaps one that never gets the true recognition for the achievements or ability. It is a shame for before the sweat and beauty of the act you may have gone to see, for many the allure of the bar or the extra 20 minutes at home is a greater pull than ever traversing the unknown or unexplored.

For Garron Frith though, the crowd that made their way to see Joanne Shaw Taylor at the St. Helens Citadel on a day when the weather didn’t know if it wanted to shower people with rain drops the size of Rugby League balls or beat them into submission with heat and powerful rays of sunshine, were genuine in their appreciation of arguably one of the most humorous, self-deprecating of support acts to emerge unscathed from the support slot in many years.

Opening up for anybody can be a nerve racking ordeal, it takes a special breed, hardy, resilient and full of charm in which to capture the attention of an audience that had made their way to the wilds of St. Helens to see the first lady of British Blues. In Garron Frith, resilience is nothing more than a by-word for having a great time and throughout the course of his unfortunately short set, the greatness that was to appear in the form of the blues lady from Birmingham, was as damn near damn equalled by the lyrical value placed in the heart of the songs offered by Mr. Frith.

The five songs, On The Wing, Pretty Penny, Morning Light, Not The Man and a splendid cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s Dealing With The Devil, soared high into the rafters of the St. Helens venue, not just because they were played with experience and guile but because of the smile of enjoyment that accompanied them, a smile that got wider the more the set went on.

Some artists are born for greatness without even realising it, it might not be the greatness that sees them talked the world over, or indeed earn them the kind of respect they are due in no small quarter. However, it is greatness, an assuredness that nonetheless has audiences flocking to talk to them after the show; for Garron Frith, the talk was of nothing else and it was enlightening to see it in action.

Ian D. Hall