Liverpool Arts Club
April 21st 2018

Reviewed by Rob Harrison

Here we go folks it’s another folk gig, and this time we are at the Arts Club in Liverpool, which is a really nice venue actually. it’s also good as it’s a really early start to the gig.

Courtney starts the gig with a strummy/strummy dirge, its like she’s digging herself into a deep trough from the start.

She perks after the second number, and it picks up slightly but she is still rambling along on the bottom.

The sound guy is not helping matters with an emphasis on a heavy bass drum sound as it distracts from the acoustic guitar.

After about the fourth song in it begins to pick up. Basically the guitarist does a heavy solo which cuts through the strummy dirge. People seem to like it as they enthusiastically clap and cheer. Let’s hope she gets the message. Fingers crossed.

She’s got a great voice when she sings on her own sans the drummer. but oops, I spoke too soon. She’s doing a ballad now, it sort of sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd doing free jazz. Yeah, I know weird but that what it sounds like folks. Free country anybody?

I think it’s the drummer. He seems to be in a completely different universe to the rest of the band. He uses beaters on the kit, trying to sound like the Floyd’s Nick Mason on the psychedelic spacetrack ‘Set the Controls to the Heart of the Sun.’

Meanwhile a hipster has just come through the door, giving me a weird look, probably wondering why I am scribbling on a notepad or am I just paranoid, But I’ve never seen so many yuppies concentrated In one area before. The Arts Club appears to be their destination, so it seems.

On that subject the next song is ‘This House Is Our Home’, another ballad. This time the drummer gets it right, with the Floyd hammer work, as Courtney provides us with an alt Fleetwood Mac country rework of Gold Dust Woman. Well, it sounds like Gold Dust Woman anyway. Now she’s doing the Stevie Nicks yelp to good effect too. So halfway through, it’s getting better.

Basically she’s given the nod to the guitarist to take over the gig, but he’s loving it. But they always do,don’t they? and the audience is loving it too.

So once they dispose of the acoustics and crank it up it all becomes really interesting, dropping the country twang to become more rock and roll.

Heck, even the drummer’s got better, and Courtney is now strutting around the stage with a Eddie Cochran semi-acoustic, having dispensed with the strummy thing, looking like she’s having a ball. t certainly sounds like she is.

They end with a very Basement Tape period Dylan kind of thing, all hammond organ and stuff like that, which is ok in my book.

Courtney mentions Dylan at the beginning of the song, so I am not sure it’s Dylan or what.

Or perhaps it’s a homage to that period, but whatever, I think she’s been wanting to play this all night. Perhaps?

The band leave to well deserved cheers and applause. Well Courtney got it together in the end and pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

Reading about her she seems a bit of a musician rather than band leader. It’s probably a learning curve as she’s so young, so there’s still time. But definitely someone worth checking out if you like alt country.

www.courtneymarieandrews.com