Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Twenty-Four hours is a long time in which to go from one extreme to other in terms of music venues to perform in as a musician. In much the same way that someone who spent a month exploring the depths of life on the ocean floor somewhere in the middle of Atlantic Ocean and is suddenly given to chance to go up as high as possible in aircraft flying over the same site, the perspective is daunting and wonderfully demanding; yet it a challenge that is strived for and achieved because that is what it means to be Human.

For Sophie Anderson, a young musician who less than three years ago received a call from the good people at The Lomax and asked if she was free on a Saturday night to play a couple of numbers, to performing inside The Philharmonic Hall infront of a vast audience as support to Roseanne Cash is something that dreams are truly made of. To go from the warm and fruitful nurturing aspect that the Zanzibar provides on a Saturday night to the abundant echo and sound of a chamber space in the Philharmonic within 24 hours is not just a dream, it is arguably the point of all the hard work and self denial that any young musician should be placing down at their chosen instrument, it can be that simple, it can be that rewarding and it is that beautiful.

With the same amount of time to fill as she had on the Saturday night, Ms. Anderson performed the six songs with elegance and grace. Whereas the Saturday night in Zanzibar was one where the prowling lioness was at the mercy of the tight but open stage, the Philharmonic expanse took the voice that sits just behind Grace Slick in terms of its heart stopping joy and gave it room to breathe. The effect of both nights was one in which any observer would have been grateful to have seen.

With the songs The Sisters, Jacks + Bells, Healerman, Pool’s Game, The Doctor and an inspiring version of Jefferson Airplane’s Somebody To Love dominating the Hall, the audience who had come to see a legend of country were left stunned and visibly taken by the appearance of one of Liverpool’s fine hopes giving a performance that rightly matched the intensity and charm of her evening at Zanzibar. In every venue a musician should always give the very best if they can, in Sophie Anderson that ethic is taken seriously and as the applause finally died down for her, the truth of such actions was both pleasing and appreciated by all.

A joy to watch regardless of where she is performing, a woman made of stern stuff, Sophie Anderson continues to impress.

Ian D. Hall