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Johnno Casson; The Big I Am and Jay Stansfield

Venue: View Two Gallery
Town: Liverpool
Date: 15/8/14
Website: http://www.johnnocasson.co.uk/

Mathew Street, Liverpool, the epicentre of The Beatles Nostalgia Industry, is mayhem on a Friday night. Hordes of revellers staggering from pub to club and music so loud you can't hear yourself think.

However, go through a narrow doorway and up three flights of stairs and you enter, as Jay Stansfield [one of tonight's performers] so accurately put it, an Alternative Dimension. You have entered the world of the View Two Gallery, a tranquil haven of fine art and fine music which is run by the enthusiastic Ken Martin, an architect and artist, who generously allows musicians to use this wonderful facility as a performance space.

View Two is the home of Liverpool Acoustic who put on some fantastic evenings of the best in acoustic and roots music. Incredibly, Liverpool Acoustic has won the coveted Live Music Night of the Year Award at the prestigious Liverpool Music Awards for two years in succession [2012 and 2013]. The two trophies sit proudly above Ken's well-stocked bar.

Tonight was not a Liverpool Acoustic night but was, instead, a one-off event which had been put together by Peter McPartland and Colin Heaney of the amazing Liverpool band, The Big I Am. Pete and Colin had invited two very fine singer songwriters, Johnno Casson [aka Snippet] and Jay Stansfield to play as well as The Big I Am.

Johnno had travelled all the way from his home in Colchester to perform tonight and he got the evening off to a fine start. Tonight Johnno was appearing as himself rather than his alter ego, the "bouncy left-field electro-pop" performer known as Snippet who is the most played artist in the history of BBC Introducing.

Johnno gave us a charming set of his own heartfelt acoustic songs which were both humorous and sometimes emotional. He began with a "folk song", an excellent version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", [well, it does date back to 1985] to warm up the crowd. Thereafter, we were treated to several of Johnno's own compositions, including the poignant "Harvest Our Days"[about learning to make the most of each day]; "Do You Think Of Him Now"[about cyber-bullying]; "Take A Taste Of Your Medicine"[about arrogant people] and "We Thought It Would Be Wonderful" which features in a play called "Return To Shell Island". Johnno [and the audience] became a little emotional during his touching song "I Leave It To You", which is about what he would behind for his wife after his death " I hope they say he had a heart, I leave it all to you". On a slightly more optimistic note was "Everybody's Got Sides", which appears on Johnno's album "Window Dressing" as remixed by Peter McPartland of tonight's hosts The Big I Am.

To conclude his set, Johnno performed a couple of Snippet numbers "Lovely Ugly People" and "Bee Stings".

Johnno made a big impression with his warm personality, humour and sincerity.

Next up were The Big I Am [Pete and Colin]. I have previously received a live show by this incredible duo in these pages and don't wish to repeat myself. Suffice it to say that this band have a unique sound which is both enthralling and intriguing. What other band combines ukulele [Peter] and Puerto Rican cuatro [Colin]? I don't know of any. Peter plays 4, 6 and 8 string ukuleles, whilst Colin also plays 12-string guitar as well as the 10-stringed cuatro. Between them they have more strings on stage than one of the late Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation puppet shows.

The combination of ukulele and cuatro makes a glorious shimmering sound, like a stream trickling over rocks. The short-ish set by The Big I Am was mesmerising, one of the highlights being "I'll Be Back For More" which sounded not unlike early Peter Gabriel-era Genesis.

The final artist of the evening was the amazing Jay Stansfield from Nelson in Lancashire. Jay is a class act who produces superb baroque folk-pop. Think Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren and Curt Boettcher of The Millennium/ Sagittarius and you will get the picture.

Jay released a superb album "Gobstopper" in 2013, from which he played two excellent songs tonight, "My Concubine" and "Building A Shield". The catchy "Express Yourself" was nearly a hit for Jay and tonight he gave it a rousing rendition, complete with audience participation.

Jay has an extraordinary vocal range, including falsetto, , as he ably demonstrated on "Lovers' Life" and "Trials And Tribulations". Jay's performance was so powerful that it was hard to believe that there was just one person and an acoustic guitar on stage. It was a stunning performance and ended a splendid evening on a [very] high note.

Peter Cowley