Cattle and Cane, Natalie McCool, Black Mountain Lights, The Paul Dunbar Band: Studio 2, Liverpool

Cattle and Cane

Cattle & Cane, from Teeside’s American quarter, returned to hit Liverpool with another memorable night. Getintothis’ Gary Lambert has the lowdown.

Like many other bands trailing the indie circuit in Britain at the moment Cattle and Cane found their Liverpool staging post to be the rather salubrious and acoustically perfect Studio Two on Parr Street. Whilst many of us still longingly gaze down the road towards Nation or that K-lub made of wood, Studio Two has, in conjunction with I Love Live Events, become Liverpool’s go to place for acts still in the early stages of their career. With the history of the building, the cool guests popping in from the studios next door and a very good selection of drinks on offer it has become a bit of a diamond quite quickly. And a victory for the indie kids in that nobody associates it with the jazz scene it was planned to celebrate.

The crowd was very healthy and boosted too by Natalie McCool who brought both a stylish cool and some sweet tunes like latest single Fortress to events. Completing the local support were Black Mountain Lights with their Americana singalong and somewhat more traditional country from Paul Dunbar.

The stars of the event were undoubtedly the headliners who did their funky country thing with swagger. The harmonies which make up for me the most standout part of the Cattle and Cane sound were mesmerising and greeted with respect and love. Everybody seemed to be enthralled with the performance. The duetting between brother and sister Joe and Helen Hammill offers a sibling rivalry a lot more palatable than spats in the newspapers as some bands prefer; and the general musicianship of the band sounded tight, well rehearsed and rousing.

By the end of the night the victors were not allowed to slip off to Teeside (or at least their tour van). Instead the crowd demanded more from them – and there was no way they were going to disappoint, heading back to the stage one last time. That is the beauty of live music. When everybody outside thinks Saturday night can only mean a party band, sometimes you get hit by something beautiful that it takes your world away for an hour or so.

With a sound so clear and songs which have that whistle-ability that every record label once searched for, there are going to be encores demanded more and more and Saturday night will be alright for just chilling.