Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Like most good things, The Shires seemed to come out of almost nowhere. The puff of wind that gently brought them into the lives of the Country fans, not just delicate and pleasurable, but one with a hard edge, the British crush well endowed on a pairing suited to capturing the ears of the listener with their dramatic songs but laid back and sweetly divined innocence.

Back in Liverpool after their first foray into the city last year and on the back of their best selling debut album Brave, Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle gave a very good account of themselves and their music in difficult circumstances, the expectancy of a crowd would up in part by their body’s demand for the main act, The Coors, to come on stage after so long away from the thoughts of all and the vast space that the Echo Arena affords but in which such music can appear lost as it filters and folds into the space provided; a niggle which happens to many and in which the natural thought would be for bands such as The Shires to make the most of the Philharmonic Hall up the road; a much more natural home for the goodness on offer.

Even with those elements fighting against them, The Shires gave their music the full valiant effort becoming of a band who have so much going for them, of a group whose lyrical response to years of having British Country music mocked in some circles, derided in others and to whom America still stands as the pinnacle of the genre’s output.

The Shires though have class on their side, the sarcasm of the British humour running through their veins and as songs such as All Over Again, State Lines, Friday Night and the set closer of Tonight found a new audience in which to hold close for a while, that class served them well. Even the slightly slowed down version of Dolly Parton’s and Kenny Rogers’ international hit Islands In The Stream filled the Echo Arena air with promise, guile and hope and the sentiment was not lost on the those to whom the excitement arguably was building in other directions.

This was a very enjoyable set by The Shires, one that was fought for every step of the way and proved ultimately fruitful.

Ian D. Hall