Monday 3 June 2013

Sean Rowe @ Leaf, Bold Street, Liverpool, Thu 23rd May 2013


Leaf in Bold Street, Liverpool, is not only a Cafe and Bar, but a venue for a diverse range of other activities including Yoga, Life Drawing classes and a Pudding Club. We were there on 23rd May 2013 to see Sean Rowe, a songwriter, singer and guitarist from Troy, NY.

I first encountered Sean Rowe via a tweet from the ANTI record label, whose most notable other artist is Tom Waits. The tweet linked to a session Rowe did in January 2011 for Wolfgang's Vault, and contained a handful of well-crafted and interestingly instrumented songs. I bought his first album - Magic - on the strength of that session, and I wasn't disappointed.

Hailing from Troy, NY, Rowe is no stranger to the UK, having performed here on a number of occasions in support of a variety of headline acts. Tonight's headliner was Josh Rouse, who'd attracted enough people to fill the place.

The set consisted of one song from his first album, Magic, a stylish choice of three covers, three songs from his most recent album, The Salesman And The Shark and one other song.

Wrong Side Of The Bed, from Magic, was delivered with a power that drove the song in much the same way as the band do on the recorded version - but all from a single guitar. A clip of most of this performance can be found on YouTube.

Two of the covers were Leonard Cohen's Chelsea Hotel #2, rendered not a million miles away from the original version, and Willie Dixon's Spoonful, a raucous blues featuring some very handy left-hand hammering, pulling and raking to great percussive effect.

Of the songs from his recent album, Joe's Cult was the up-tempo one of the three. Rowe augmented his guitar with what looked like a train ticket slotted between the strings and a pen hanging from the strings. A very low-cost effect, but a unique variation in tone, and one which injects a valuable tonal variation into the "one man and a guitar" setup.

Signs, from the recent album was more laid-back, demonstrating maturity in writing and arrangement compared to the previous album. It's a poignant song written for his father and sounding reminiscent in parts of The Blue Nile.

My highlight of the show was Flying, also from the recent album. This song sounds like it could have been lifted stright from a Johnny Cash album. The voice is not dissimilar to Cash's and the arrangement would be right at home in that setting.

The one track not on either album, To Leave Something Behind, is a personal song inspired by Rowe's recently becoming a father and by his relationship with his young son. It's simple and beautiful like an old Tom Waits song. Bob Dylan once said that Blowing In The Wind almost wrote itself, well this song could be Sean Rowe's equivalent - you almost know the next line before he sings it.

The final song of the set was a cover of Richard Thompson's Vincent Black Lightning 1952, a regular for Rowe, which went down a storm.

It's obvious from watching that Rowe has hundreds if not thousands of performances under his belt. He's an assured singer and an accomplished player who clearly knows not only how to play the notes, but how to leave gaps. There are likenesses to Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and other musical greats. His banter is sincere and his songs varied and mature. It's no surprise that Josh Rouse's audience reacted so positively to him.

After his set I queued up to buy a CD of the second album, which he signed and chatted happily about.

We stayed for a couple of Josh Rouse songs, and while his audience loved it, for me it was a bit of a powderpuff affair. As we left, Sean Rowe was sitting at the side of the stage, watching and swaying gently, perhaps thinking of Troy, NY.

1 comment:

  1. Nice one Plumcloth, good review. Sean Rowe was brilliant. We were at the same gig and did a podcast review here.
    http://trustthewizards.com/2013/05/24/live-music-review-josh-rouse-in-liverpool-23-may-2013/

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