Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Rain must fall into the everyday; it is what after all makes the grass on the right side of the fence lush and green. The heavens may have opened with the feeling of the torrential storm homing in like an angry pigeon toting a bad attitude and blistering for an argument but in small corner of Liverpool, out of the rain but very much enjoying the sound of water hitting the small rounded gravel stones and the bouncing off the wooden tables, the Kazimier Garden’s audience wallowed in the beautiful sentiments offered by Derek King and the sly shake of the imagined fist as he dared the weather to do its worst.
Even if the day had turned into the kind which buffets low laying islands in the tropics and soaks the feet no matter how sturdy the shoe, the grinning defiance, the calm measure of a man composed of generous musical goodwill would have won through and by the time he finished his set for the Liverpool Acoustic Garden, the sense of August throwing in the wet and bitter towel was all but forgotten.
It is easy to forget the elements when a musician such as Derek King shows the way, for in his charming and proactive songs that capture life as it is meant to be seen and not never endured, the inclemency, the harshness of such dark skies cannot help but be envisaged as being a wonderful shade of clear and clarity tinged.
Tracks such as Sometimes, To Be A Boy, the exquisite Summer Rain, the brand new track in Seasons and the apt Perfect Days floated above the grenades of clear water smashing into the crowd and the threat of gloom dispelled.
Liverpool quite rightly has many musical heroes, many sovereigns of the acoustic scene but as he played and smiled and played without impunity and mocked the weather Gods. The realisation that there is only one Derek King was more than enough to know, no matter how much rain came down on an August bank holiday, the memory will make it remember only the rainbow reflecting brightly on stage.
One of life’s true pleasures, Derek King holds sway over a court and doesn’t disappoint.
Ian D. Hall