Laurel, Ian Janco, Mary Miller: Studio 2, Liverpool

Laurel

As Laurel played her first headline gig in Liverpool Getintothis’ Vicky Camidge was hypnotised.

We were all lost in the beauty and intensity of Laurel’s performance at Studio 2.

Playing her first headline show in Liverpool, Laurel shyly admitted that she was surprised to see so many people in the audience and thanked us for coming out on a Tuesday.

The intimate atmosphere at Studio 2 fitted her style completely. Armed with only her guitar and her haunting vocals, Laurel hypnotised the crowd.

Tracks from her 2016 EP Park were performed with a raw intensity of emotion. After offering us a brief explanation of meaning behind Goodbye, “it’s about having to say goodbye to someone when you’re not quite ready yet”, her live performance of the track was both dreamy and melancholic and left all the crowd at Studio 2 stunned to silence.

Other highlights included her performance of Hurricane, which “is about the type of lovers that always come back together… but probably shouldn’t”, and perhaps her most well-known track Life Worth Living. Her stage manner was mellow yet composed, her interactions with the crowd were gentle and her performance was impeccable.

Liverpool Arts Diary – March 2017

Mary Miller and Ian Janco took to the stage in support of Laurel. Miller was dark and dynamic, with Felt being a particularly moving performance. Janco’s support was an uptempo turn, performing songs that demanded crowd participation and even composing a song from random words shouted out by audience members, which of course on Shrove Tuesday included the word ‘pancake’, as well as his new single Morning Light which has been played nationally on Radio 2.

Both support acts (although invoking different feelings) performed exceptionally well, resulting in an evening brimming with talent.

Pictures by Getintothis’ Gary Coughlan