Yarbo at the Bluecoat, September 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

September in the Bluecoat Garden has the type of ring to it that should be preserved in a sonnet or the wild imaginings of Liverpool’s Roger McGough. It is the poetic statement that deserves its own Blue Plaque and with the acknowledgement that Adrian Henri sat here and contemplated the form and gave to the world freely. Yet as the chimes of 1p.m. sounded somewhere in the city, the quietly resolute garden, the abundance of music lovers sat or stood with patience and fortitude for the coming day of music ahead, Yarbo took to the stage and played with freedom and mutual understanding.

Above the Beaten Track has made many friends over the last few years and introduced a wide spectrum of special performers to audiences in the Bluecoat and Yarbo certainly fits the bill as being very special indeed.

The garden is a natural sounding board to the performers that allow themselves to be thrust into the limelight of the three or four song showcase, the 20 minute burst of radiance and reflection and for Yarbo that 20 minutes was delivered in fine style as the new and as yet not captured on disc I’m Always Home mixed freely with the nodding heads of approval and the smile that only a cool September day can bring to the world.

With the songs Blind and the Brave, Silver Dust and the enveloping Mechanical all featuring within the set, Above The Beaten Track got off to the kind of start that makes this particular event something of a natural treasure as Autumn feels its way in with tentative and surprising ease into the subconscious of the Liverpool music calendar.

This was a fine display by Yarbo, subtle beauty hanging freely in the Bluecoat air and one in which the gathered crowd enjoyed with pleasure. It’s never the easiest occupation in the world and it’s never stress-free opening such a prestigious local event but with a kind of relaxed tranquillity Yarbo gave all the thought that Autumn would have at least a comfortable beginning.

Ian D. Hall