Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

One of the great pleasures of life is coming across the next wave of performers who you hope will go on to have success in the world. Like anybody, the young deserve to have dreams, others will go out of their way to knock them down, they will say it is for their own benefit and that old chestnut of a damning generation, “Get yourself a real job” ever hanging in the air over them like the sword of Damocles swaying just above their performing torso. It is a great honour to try and understand the next generation and their drive, their fears and their ways, by doing so you get to see and hear marvellous things.

As part of Be Lovely Day at Brink, Maddie Stenberg took on the role of young musical tempter, of allowing her voice to mingle in the January darkness, punctuated by neon light and the sound of a crowd still wondering where nine goals at Carrow Road came from; it was as if two of the great passions of day had collided and Ms. Stenberg threw her all at those that had come for the football and had stayed out of intrigue for her softness of voice and strength of character.

To come on between She Beat and Kaya Herstad Carney could be seen as daunting at the best of times but the Be Lovely Day, whilst arguably not having the same intensity as say the Threshold Festival, still carries the weight of expectation because it is given to the city with love, with passionate integrity and to be involved, even for three songs, is a mark of respect that works both ways.

Maddie Stenberg’s voice is still developing but it is one in which to take great pleasure in, the aural sensation is dripping with future pride and as she performed the songs Bad Blood and Voices, that pride was fully justified. Even taking on Amy McDonald’s Mr. Rock and Roll, not an easy task with its subjective lyrical ambition, was not to be faced with fear but with a strapping of elegance that shone through easily on the Brink stage.

Like others before her, Maddie Stenberg has some way to go, however the seeds have been sown and they offer a good crop, it should be seen as a delight to see how this young lady progresses, for surely quality resides in her.

Ian D. Hall