Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The sound of Vienna, the last days of grand empire in a city that would remain forever associated with fine music and beautiful venues in which to play them, could not sound more opulent or desirable than being able to relish in the alternative Folk Rock guitar sound driven by The Good Host. The whirl of Vienna, the mood of the Danube slowly winding itself down through Europe and the psychological musings of Freud as the ghosts of the Habsburgs looked on; none of that splendour matches being in the company of the band that makes music just something you yearn for the company of a fine port and a roaring Christmas fire for.

The Good Host, the playful sound of a time that has never really arrived, in advance of their peers perhaps but one in which suits their own particular style and it is one that was perfect for the comfortably resplendent Studio 2 audience. The only thing missing from the performance was arguably an extra hour, however these days you take the time you have with a band as if it might not last anyway; for the generosity of spirit in any host only stretches as far as Time allows.

For the members of The Good Host, it is the delicate flavour of high ended conversation wrapped in the barbed wit and interesting melody that makes them stand out as far as they do; the Vienna Opera House perhaps being just as suitable home for their music as Studio 2 but in a way that would shock the old grandiose souls who inhabit the building and who still might not have got over the likes of Tori Amos and Joe Bonamassa performing there.

It is that sneaky thought that makes you love The Good Host and as they performed their set with style, the smile of a band which knows it has so much in it’s locker that will intrigue and captivate an audience. Songs such as the brand new single Mutiny, Age of the Eye, Barley Mow, The Son, Same Old Song, the devastatingly cool Belly of the Beast and the surprise addition of Imagined all left their mark on the audience’s psyche and the groove of their souls.

A good host always knows what you need even without asking, it is just simply engrained in their D.N.A., for The Good Host everything has to be just so, it is a mantra that this fine band bring to the stage with them; a truly wonderful experience.

Ian D. Hall