Paul Dunbar at the Bluecoat, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Paul Dunbar doesn’t work that often without his tremendous band, The Midnight Ramble, thundering with exquisite charm beside him and the sound of a thousand instruments all begging for that brief but beautiful solo spot in which to extol the virtues of one of Liverpool’s finest young bands. However, when he does it is with the same resounding belief and great bundles of effort he puts into the group arena and it shows as always, great humility and tremendous authority.

The Sandon Room at the Bluecoat reverberated to the mischievous growl and the raised eyebrow of contented words being thrown to the crowd as if a gladiator of the highest order had entered the room already primed to flex his muscles and take part in a battle against a guitar shaped panther. It was a growl that was accompanied by that other weapon of mass distraction, that assuredness of the well played song.

The four songs that Mr. Dunbar played as part of the Above The Beaten Track day at the Bluecoat came from so deep within, that it was almost like listening to a different person on the day, such perhaps the resonating force of a few months off travelling will bring to the soul; that the reason for being who you are is intensified, made more real and whole and this type of reaction to the music is one in which proves that art and experience are so intertwined that it should be impossible to see the join.

The songs, The Ballad of Four Eyes, Gospel Number 7, Hands Down and Earth, Sky or the Raging Sea were all greeted with such rapturous applause that Mr. Dunbar must have felt like he had never been away.

With the news that The Midnight Ramble will resume touring again soon, the gig in the Sandon Room took on greater meaning, this is a musician and a band that have been sorely missed whilst life was been explored and as the final burst of energy was released and the final note soared, realisation that the man was back to entertain and educate with his music once more was filled with full appreciation.

This was Paul Dunbar’s first foray into the Above The Beaten Track Festival, it will not be his last.

Ian D. Hall