In the intimacy of the Bridgewater Hall's Barbirolli Room, (seating for 150), a small stage had been erected at the far end and we were treated to a double headline evening by two emerging singing talents, who are at one and the same time surprisingly similar but also very different too.
In the first half of this evening's concert we heard diminutive Liverpudlian, Elfin Bow, put her unique spin on her life experiences to music. We heard about Edith Grimshaw, an amalgamation of three childhood 'harridans'; her time as an art teacher [attested by her 'Alice In Wondeland' outfit] and her love of hats [she wore a red plush velvet top hat with a bright yellow flower], and why she stopped teaching to follow her passion of writing and performing; and we heard about her elderly father and his dementia. All of these themes cleverly interwoven into her songs.
Bow had a very relaxed and easy style, giving a little background to each song she played - most of which were original compositions, mostly from her album, but a couple of newer tracks not yet released.too. Her music is of the folk genre, but there are strong elements of classical and Country music evident in there too. She was also a competent musician, accompanying herself through her set with a various array of instruments from a holeless acoustic guitar, through banjo, to piano.
The one problem here was that the piano had not been lifted onto the stage, and so both piano and player were sadly unseen after the first two rows!
Little Sparrow sang backing vocals for a few of the songs, but my two favourites in the first half were 'Sweet Jonathan', a catchy tune with a Rock feel to it, and 'They're Calling All Of Us', based on a folk legend about the red dragon beating the white dragon in a battle and becoming the emblem of Wales.
Bow finished her set with a rousing call to arms for adventure and fun in the up-tempo, 'For The Love Of Peril'.
The second half saw Little Sparrow take to the stage. Her stage name is something perhaps ironic in the sense that vocally she is much more of a huge eagle - a surprisingly strong soprano voice soaring high. She would be equally at home with either light classical or rock.
This evening her sound was augmented by a cellist, guitarist, drummer and pianist, with backing vocals provided by at least two of these. Her opening song, 'Alone' was highly dramatic and moody, very reminiscent of Kate Bush.
Once again, the repertoire this evening was folk, but again the influences infusing her songs, many. She sang songs from her albums, a couple of completely new songs, and a cover. A well-thought through mix of both old and new, as well as slow and more up-beat.
Some of her songs were clever, such as the song 'Memories Maid', a wordplay title based on the book, 'Memoirs Of A Geisha'; an almost unrecognisable cover, as the now slow and deliberate narrative style of Madness' 'Baggy Trousers' is given the Sparrow treatment; and some just downright flash, such as 'Wishing Tree' from her debut album.
A couple of her songs were accompanied on the piano by Robin Dewhurst. The second of these, 'Tender', saw images of people projected onto the wall behind her. She had asked through social media for friends to send in pictures of loved ones past and present to make this montage as the song was written at a time when her mother was suffering with a serious illness. It's the dark times, quite often, which produce the most creative music, and this song, and the one following, 'Dry Your Eyes' were just beautiful testaments to that adage.
After this, a more up tempo song was called for, and she delighted the audience with three brand new songs before finishing her set with a further three taken from her debut album. My favourite song after the highly dramatic opening song, was, I think, 'Struck Gold' from her first album.
The advertising 'blurb' describes Little Sparrow's voice as 'beautifully emotive' and her 'use of expression mirrors the sincerity of her delivery'. I couldn't have put it better myself!
It was a hugely enjoyable evening being introduced to two new (at least to me) singers and some beautifully written, poignant, and cleverly crafted songs. If I am to be in any way negative at all, then the evening was a little on the long side, running at 2, 5 hours (including a 15 minute change-over interval). But since the music was so wonderful, I'm not going to complain!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 25/11/18
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