Getintothis

Levellers, Seán McGowan, Maelor Hughes: Grand Central Hall, Liverpool

0
By on Live reviews

Levellers brought anger and hope to Grand Central Hall, Getintothis’ Rogerio Simoes experiences a folk-punk explosion.

We’re going to love this.

Apologies for the spoiler, but we have a crystal ball in our pocket, we’ve just had a look at it, and tonight’s gig will be brilliant.

Why?

Because it’s Levellers.

Can’t they play a bad gig? Humm… no, not really.

But why “brilliant”? Can’t it just be good?

Because it’s Levellers in Liverpool!

Their roots are on the other side of England, in Brighton, but Merseyside is a great fit for the revolutionary troupe, who have been asking for fans to bring clothes for the homeless to their shows.

The Levellers walk the walk.

Also because we live in Brexit times, and the Levellers have a new album coming up in August, from which a new single, Food Roof Family, has been released. Its lyrics are full of outrage against the anti-immigration feelings that have spread in the country recently, and we look forward to hearing it live.

The Murder Capital: O2 Academy, Liverpool

So Liverpool’s Grand Central Hall is filled with excitement on this Sunday evening, and the first to come to the stage is Lancashire’s folk singer Maelor Hughes.

His set launches the evening perfectly, combining pleasant tunes and vibrant rhythms – the use of his foot for drumming does the trick.

His lyrics contain some profound reflections, and it’s quite compelling the way this talented songwriter sings about life and the meaning of things that happened to him – which can be applied to any of us.

On Cards Dealt, his opening tune, he sings: “What the world has given me hasn’t always been kind / But I play the cards that I was dealt and leave the rest behind.”

For Morning Sun, which has a very traditional musical spirit, he’s accompanied by fiddle, and the audience begin to respond and thoroughly enjoy his set. We’re now totally convinced that we must listen to his 2018 album, Turning of the Seasons.

Maelor Hughes deserves to be noticed.

Transatlantic Sessions: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

Seán McGowan is another singer-songwriter, but his music has a more modern pace.

His voice is mighty, and he uses it not just to convey emotions, but to talk to us, in a fast style that borders rapping.

Cuppa Tea, which on his 2018 album Son of a Smith has an American college rock production, with a full band, is still pretty intense with just voice and acoustic guitar. “I’m sick and tired / Spent my whole life on my knees / Can I have some more sir, please?”.

McGohan also connects well with the audience, sharing with us his humble origins and ranting against British conservative press and the Prime Minister – with which, of course, everybody agrees. “I’m just trying to figure the world out”, he tells us. Good on you, mate.

We’ve already said that the Levellers gig will be brilliant, because everybody knows what to expect.

But there’s still a lot we don’t know, as the band has the habit of changing much of the setlist from one gig to another.

Seeing Levellers next week might be a very different experience from watching them tonight.

So we wonder, what song will they start with? Which ones will fill the traditional three-song encore?

The Levellers: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool 2015 

Simon Friend answers the first question as soon as the band comes to the stage, with his classic shout “Liberty!!!!” And then comes Liberty’s colossal guitar riff, to light the fire on the packed floor of the Grand Central Hall.

We don’t have much time to breathe, and Fifteen Years comes second, another track from their landmark album Levelling the Land (1991).

The crowd dances and jumps, sings every word, beer is spilled, arms are raised – yes, it’s a Levellers gig!!

Lead singer Mark Chadwick is the first to acknowledge how much they connect with the city. “It’s good to be back in Liverpool. The sensible part of the country!”

They know they’re in a city of resistance, a place where their more than 30 years of folk-punk music and protest words resonate strongly today, perhaps even more than in the 1990s.

Our New Day is next, followed by The Game, another explosive classic – the crowd goes insane again.

It’s a good time to assess whether the Levellers have lost any of the energy that made them famous, particularly in that incredible 1994 Glastonbury headline set – watch it on YouTube if you’ve never seen it.

Considering that it’s been 26 years, the answer is no.

They still deliver a cracking performance, with Jon Sevink as restless as ever, occupying every corner of the stage while playing the fiddle, and Jeremy Cunningham headbanging and jumping with his bass.

Tonight’s setlist is another unique compilation of classics from many of their albums, but in preparation for the release of a new LP, Peace.

So we’re treated with favourite tunes such as Exodus, Boatman, Sell Out, One Way and Dirty Davey, a powerful track written by Nick Burbridge, with ferocious fiddle playing, from the 1993 Levellers album. The digeridoo is here too, of course, played by a very colourful Stephen Boakes.

We get to their recent single, Food Roof Family. The Levellers’ recipe is there, with pacy rhythm, fiddle-based riff and, most importantly, lyrics that say what must be said. “Doesn’t everybody need the same thing? / Food, roof and family.”

Everybody here means anyone, regardless where they come from. It’s a strong sign that the Levellers’ new album might come with more timely statements against the toxic climate we live in these days.

After a fabulous performance of Men-An-Tol, Simon Friend makes another reference to Liverpool’s habits that resonate with the band. “You read the right newspapers, don’t you?” We surely do, Simon.

With The Cholera Well and Riverflow they finish the set, so we’ll soon find out what the encore will be made of.
Here they come again, and it’s Far From Home, another track from Levelling the Land – the eighth from that album played tonight.

https://twitter.com/_BethPrice_/status/1234269155714641926

Such an amazing and loyal audience could not miss the chance to sing along to Carry Me, so they play the beloved tune next, going first into a false start, a stop, some laughs and then a beautiful moment with the crowd’s voices joining them.

It’s quite curious that, for a band so angry with the state of the world, their biggest hit says that “Nothing is impossible in my all powerful mind”.

They close the evening with those words and the elevating chorus of Beautiful Day, showing that Levellers are in fact a band full of hope that things will eventually get better.

Our crystal ball was spot on. It was brilliant. We go home feeling like “kings of all time” and thinking that we might need the Levellers today more than we ever did.

Images by Billy Vitch

[paypal-donation]

Comments

comments

Share.
naproxen