Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It would only have to be a whisper of voices and the audiences who crowd Limerance would by instinct demand on mass that the sound be turned up to a level in which their beautiful sense of Americana is more thoroughly deserving.
From a whisper in the mind to the creative flow that greets the Philharmonic Hall’s Music Room’s crowd, Limerance’s Jenny Coyle and Calum Gilligan once again proved that their demeanour and stance is an incredible sight to behold, the full resonance of their vocals is not just a joy, it is a dream to hear, full coloured and alluring, the kind of dream in which you wake from slightly unsure of what room you have woken up in and what day it is, the best type of vision to hold on to as everything is still wonderfully vibrant and possible.
Opening up their particular set for Liverpool Acoustic’s It Takes Two extravaganza with the song My Old Sky, Limerance proceeded to fill the room with the sense of reverie that encompasses My Turn, One Day, Hellbound, I’m On Your Side, Shine On and the finality and creatively desirable Along For The Ride, the sound produced by the pair sat comfortably in the memory, stirring the difference that was resolute across the evening’s four groups, but at the same time holding onto the ideal in which the night’s music was organised.
It does take two after all, the power that is encompassed in a duo is perhaps unlike anything else that can be attained on stage, the yin and the yang of performance, of two soul meeting, blending and becoming one is an aspiration in which life in all its forms is always trying to replicate.
For Ms. Coyle and Mr. Gilligan that sense of uniformed wave of music, ebbing and flowing serenely in the same fashion that one might have previously experienced in the way that June Carter Cash accompanied her husband on stage or in how the pleasure of hearing Loretta Lynn’s voice would make collective knees go understandably weak, the encounter was once again dynamic, a proverbial blessing for the ears as they seek at this time of year escape from the endless cacophony of sterile chain store melodies.
A simply gorgeous performance, watching Limerance on stage is like allowing yourself to fall into a vivid exciting dream, one that never should stop but when it does you feel exhilarated for having been there.
Ian D. Hall