Chris Owen

Last night's gig at Alexander's in Chester proved very enjoyable indeed, in spite of one or two things which seemed determined to conspire against both the band and anyone foolishly hoping to listen to them in peace. But fear not, fellow list members, there were certainly more positives than negatives from what the audience were witness to.

Maybe it was just the way I saw things, but it seemed to take Marty, Julianne and Andy the first quarter of the show to really warm up. I think that after playing in such a nice, spacious theater in Liverpool on Saturday, they just didn't know quite what to make of this pokey, albeit perfectly pleasant, jazz bar, with its low ceiling and tight stage. Beyond the twenty or so closely arranged tables closest to the stage, the standing punters were quite literally packed to the rafters. The result: it was very warm in there, with Julianne seeming to suffer the most on stage, trying to cool herself in between songs as much as she could. The temperature must have dropped quite dramatically towards and after midnight, as during the encores she complained of being freezing and actually arrived back on stage in her duffle coat! Here she was, the high priestess of goth, hood tight around her head, standing behind her microphone like Eskimo Nell! I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it myself.

Once the band had warmed to the venue, and the audience had got into the swing of things, the gig steadily improved. The good natured banter showed what a good time the band were having, and every song, particularly Martha's Harbour and Shelter From The Rain it seemed, was met with applause which belied the size of the audience. Someone said there were over 150 in attendance, and considering the modest size of the place, that's not a bad return.

Musically everything seemed to be fine, except one heart-stopping moment when Julianne slipped up on a lyric, from which she expertly recovered, and, ever the professional, for which she instantly apologised after the song. She was putting so much of herself into her delivery that I'm certain everyone forgave her without giving it a second thought. The only negative thing about the evening was those old bones of contention: the bar being open (which, admittedly, I didn't hear a great deal of noise from, perhaps because of the thick wall of bodies separating it from myself) and casual attendees talking through the music. I've heard worse than this, but it was still distracting enough to cause many a head to turn in the direction of those guilty. It makes me wonder what could possibly be important enough to talk about when, as Marty put it, something beautiful is happening on stage. Both he and Andy felt compelled to single out particular groups of individuals in their usual good natured way, which improved things to some degree. At one point, however, I thought Marty was going to become a little more serious about it, but I feel his attitude at the end of the day was 'if they miss some of our music through not paying attention, it's their loss', which was very true because the band played wonderfully well, not finishing their set until gone midnight! I saw a lot of smiles during the
show last night, both on stage and off it. In spite of the cramped conditions and extremes of temperature they had to endure, the band seemed in great spirit, and a lot of the songs seemed to bring back fond memories for a lot of people in the audience, who clapped long and loud as opening bars were recognised from years gone by.

Another fine night's entertainment was complimented by being fortunate enough to get some nice Eve items signed by the ever-gracious band members, for which I would again like to thank them ... thank you All About Eve for gracing my neck of the woods. Come back soon.
* Chris