Paul Brady - Liverpool Philharmic Hall 19/5/2005

Late decision this one – treat from a friend, Sue, who is a long term fan and who “just happened” to be in town (she lives in Holland!) – so we all arrived a bit breathless half way through the support:

Declan O'Rourke

I had a few problems with this act – we were only 3 rows back in the stalls, but on the right hand aisle – and the noise was a bit of a shock considering he was only playing acoustic guitar and singing – my he has a powerful voice. The first song we heard (part of) seemed to go on and on, and for me there was something un-meshed between the voice and the guitar that put me a bit on edge and made it harder to appreciate a young man who is clearly very talented. His playing was loud and confident, his voice deep and powerful but not lacking in feeling, his links were funny and nervously confident. When he put down his guitar and sang his own song about marrying the sea, he hit his high point for me. The song attempts to explore a young Irish farm-boy’s thought processes before he decides to take to the sea with Scott and Shackleton, and the lyric finds him proposing to the sea that they marry and share their lives together. The sea is at first coy having known very many men before, so many who left her for the shore, and it’s a fine song. Paul Brady was later, rightfully, complementary to his special guest.

Paul Brady came on with a 4 piece band and came over surprisingly rocky. I wasn’t very sure what to expect having had only a brief listen to a couple of songs from a CD down the phone, but the opening number was loud and it was obvious from the outset that there was a wealth of talent on the stage and that we were in for a good night. This turned out to be the case and, despite being completely unfamiliar with his material, I really enjoyed the set which consisted of just about all the songs on his latest CD, some of his own choices from the past, and a fair few of those old favourites that the obviously keen fans in the audience insisted on quite vocally!

We were ideally placed to observe the intricate techniques employed by the guitarist – I’m sorry but all of the names of the band completely escaped me on this occasion – who generated a fine mix of sound including some nice bottleneck work and some interesting effects alongside the “usual” playing. I particularly enjoyed observing the drummer (when not obscured by the Bass) who was clearly giving it all without any histrionics and looked absolutely knackered after the performance when he appeared back on the stage.

So it was a good gig – I even found time to enjoy a half of Cains Triple Hopped Pale Ale which was really refreshing, and Gill & Sue (said friend) almost managed to gatecrash the after-gig party in the Green Room!

John Sharp

Paul Brady @ Liverpool Philharmonic 19/5/2005