Getintothis

The Coral, Marvin Powell: Jimmy’s, Liverpool

0
By on Live reviews

The Coral

As Merseyside legends The Coral kick off a mammoth weekend of gigs for the opening of Jimmy’s Getintothis’ Kevin Barrett was on hand for the memorable night. 

In recent years it seems every time we hear news regarding a live music venue it’s more often than not because it’s closing down.

Thankfully the past twelve months here in Liverpool has seen the city fly against that grain.

With the success of Jacaranda’s Phase-One, and the latest addition to the music scene Kazimier Stockroom opening its doors, the encouragement for Liverpool’s music spaces has very much been on the up.

So when the news come through to us that one of Manchester’s leading live music venue’s Jimmy’s was heading to Liverpool to extend their brand this delighted us here at Getintothis no end.

That excitement has been gaining momentum over the past few months with snippets of news filtering through over bookings made, or progress galleries on the construction works of the old Havelock building, formerly Liverpool’s iconic Cabin Club.

And what better way than to get proceedings underway for Jimmy’s than to draft in Merseyside legends The Coral to be the first band to play the newest stage in town.

On a mammoth opening weekend of gigs that also sees Liverpool’s The Peach Fuzz and Manchester rising stars The Blinders stop by they’re pulling no punches in showing the city what they can offer.

As we arrive at Jimmy’s there’s a real buzz inside, the main bar area is already around half-full almost two hours before The Coral are due on stage, and that’s even after some have already made their way downstairs to grab a good spec for the night.

Getting this new room suitably warmed up for us tonight is Liverpool’s own Marvin Powell, the Skeleton Key signed singer-songwriter takes to a smoke filled and dimly lit stage and this aura only adds to his performance.

Powell’s voice is a joy to listen to. Debuting some new material in The Prophecy, Tenant of My Own Time, and Careless By The Coast to the now swelling room, his sound has a sense of escapism, it’s serene storytelling with a delicate vocals intertwining with intricate guitar sections.

Samsara sees him pick up the pace whilst overlapping with gorgeous harmonies between himself and The Sundowner’s Fiona Skelly on backing vocals, all this is as Skelly effortlessly switches between playing the djembe drum, tambourine and shaker.

Jimmy’s head honcho Ben Taylor chats to Getintothis 

At nine o’clock on the dot James Skelly, Paul Molloy, Paul Duffy, Ian Skelly, and Nick Power make their way out. No introductions are needed here, it’s straight into Jaqueline, and this lucky audience love it.

Pushing through classics such as Pass It On & Bill McCai the playing is relentless.

The low ceiling above this stage providing an added dimension to the acoustics, Duffy mentioning it’s been a while since the band played a venue like this. And it’s true, you’d probably have to go back almost 20 years for the last time the band would have played to a venue this size in the city.

What this crowd had tonight was a real ‘where you there’ moment.

The Coral in Jimmy’s were electric.

The heat in room felt immense as the band worked their way through the likes of In The Morning, Chasing The Tail of a Dream, and Sweet Release, before only dropping the tempo slightly for 1000 Years, & Eyes Like Pearls.

The musicianship was fantastically tight as you’d expect from a band of this stature, but the instrumentals during In The Rain and Goodbye were just magical.

You could hardly see Ian Skelly on drums at the back of the stage through the sweat filled haze as Dreaming of You closed this glorious set. This was a special moment for everyone here in attendance, and the Liverpool music scene in general.

What Jimmy’s have done tonight is make huge statement, the hype and excitement leading up to tonight did not fail in the delivery.

And if this is just the start for the venue then we are in for a hell of ride.

Images by Getintothis’ Kevin Barrett 

Comments

comments

Share.
naproxen