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Lizzie Nunnery and Vidar Norheim

Venue: Bothy Folk Song Club
Town: Southport
Date: 3rd March 2013
Website: http://lizzienunnery.co.uk

Lizzie Nunnery is no stranger to the Bothy Folk Club ,nor indeed the pages of Fatea. In 2008 ,her performance at Bournemouth Folk Club [with Vidar Norheim] won her the Fatea Live Performance of 2008 Award. More recently ,in October 2012 ,Neil King reviewed the duo's album "Black Hound Howling" and described it as "definitely one I'm happy to recommend".

Lizzie, who is from Liverpool , is an award -winning singer-songwriter and playwright. Her debut play "Intemperance" garnered a five star review in The Guardian and her more recent play "The Swallowing Dark" had a month's run at London's Theatre 503 after transferring from the Liverpool Playhouse.

Vidar is from Norway and is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ,as well as being a member of Liverpool-based alt-rock band Wave Machines.Lizzie and Vidar have worked together since 2008 ,when Vidar produced Lizzie's EP "Hungry".He went on to produce her debut album "Company of Ghosts" ,which was released in 2010. "Black Hound Howling" is the first joint release by Lizzie and Vidar.

Tonight I turned up at the Bothy expecting to see Lizzie and Vidar as a duo but was surprised and delighted to learn that this was going to be a "full band" show ,with three additional musicians ,namely, Martin Heslop [guitar, vibes ,keyboard and ukulele] , Martin Smith [trumpet and "weird horn"] and Dean Rivera on double bass. The full band line up would enable Lizzie and Vidar to create the extraordinary soundscapes of "Black Hound Howling"in a live context. And so it was to be. We were treated to a suite of the first four tracks from that remarkable album, beginning with the eerie ,apocalyptic "Evensong" ,complete with bowed vintage vibraphone by Vidar ,complemented by Dean's bowed double bass. It was clear from the off that this was going to be an exceptional night !

"Evensong" segued into the hypnotic ,rhythmic "Five Thousand Birds", with its imagery of birds, planes and fish falling from the sky. Scary stuff ,indeed.This in turn led into the title song "Black Hound Howling" with its ominous visions of houses coming down, foundations cracking like glass and great nations turning to ash. Vidar's insistent drumming and Lizzie's impassioned vocals created a chilling atmosphere of desolation and loss.

By way of contrast, the next song was the incredibly moving "Sand" which has memory loss as its theme ,where the narrator is "falling in love with what's left of me ,the rest of me ,throw it to the dogs".

Lizzie and Vidar [and band] then performed the atmospheric title piece from her debut album " Company of Ghosts". This began with a spoken introduction before leading into a jazzy section featuring Martin Smith's trumpet.

"Cherry Blossom" is one of my favourite pieces on "Black Hound" .It describes a dreamlike visit to Washington .The band created a wonderful soundscape behind Lizzie's spoken words, in particular Vidar's vibraphone and Martin Smith's horn. Wonderful stuff ,which was followed by a pair of songs that Lizzie wrote for the Radical City event in Liverpool , "Don't Look To Me" and "Poverty Knocks". The protest song is alive and well in Lizzie's hands .

And so ended an extraordinary first set .

The second set began with Lizzie and Vidar as a duo ,performing "Hungry" and "Twisting On The Breeze". Lizzie then went solo for the gorgeous "The Cold Has Come" ,which amply demonstrated what a fine and distinctive singer she is.

The full band returned for the atmospheric "Sleepers" in which they created a ghostly soundscape of the sea and the wind howling.

"England Loves A Poor Boy" relates the true story of Ernest Marke who was a famous homeless figure in Liverpool and featured a fine trumpet solo from Martin Smith. After a jazzy "First Time Lucky"[ featuring Martin Heslop on ukulele] ,it was time for the last number "Don't Put Your Life On The Stage",a fitting finale as it gradually built to a crescendo ,with Lizzie chanting the mantra of the song's title.

Of course, after such an amazing performance, the Bothy crowd were not going to let Lizzie, Vidar and company go without playing an encore .This came in the form of The Weavers' "Wasn't That A Time?" . The answer that came back was a resounding "Yes" , that was indeed a time .It was a great time . Lizzie,Vidar and their band had put on an exceptional performance in every sense.

PS Apologies for the length of this review but the show was so good that I wanted to do it full justice.

Peter Cowley