Support came from Brummie singer/songwriter Dan Whitehouse (who I last saw with Boo Hewerdine) with a selection of his own material. Intriguing lyrics sung in his gentle breathless voice backed with well worked layered guitar playing. An effective warm up act, personable, amusing, with clear potential. It would be good to see him fronting a band.
Eddi blew in, as ever, like a whimsical force of nature. Her fans adore her, and rightly so, for she is a star with no side to her, no pretensions and full of human warmth. The band seem pretty fond of her too, and they're an impressive bunch in their own right.
Longstanding members of Team Reader, Boo Hewerdine on guitar and vocals, Alan Kelly on piano accordion and Eddi's spouse John Douglas on guitar, ukulele and vocals form the backbone of the line up. They were joined by John's brother Stephen on drums, the ever reliable Kevin McGuire on electric double bass, Steve Hamilton on keyboards and the impressive Steph Geremia on flute, whistles, sax, vocals and red wine. All had a chance to show off their skills at some point in the evening, notably Kelly leading a wild and rousing instrumental, Hewerdine's vocals on his own song Patience of Angels, and John Douglas' atmospheric ukulele on Fairground Attraction.
But, for all Reader's generosity towards her colleagues, it's herself that can't help but dominate proceedings. The voice continues to be majestic, soaring across the octaves with ease and capable of the most extraordinary high notes. Technical abilities aside, its her inventiveness that marks out the Reader live act, so that even a weel kent standard like Perfect is still able to surprise and delight - even some band members judging from their expressions. In between songs she's raconteur, comedian, friend to all, your favourite eccentric auntie. Each number has a personal connection, lovingly explained.
The set is a mix of half a dozen or so songs from her new album Cavalier, established favourites from her Fairground Attraction days and extensive back catalogue of solo albums, and her act as Auntie Jeannie, fag in hand, entertaining a tenement party with her hilarious rendition of Moon River. Styles range across folk, jazz, pop, rock and blues, Reader and band equally adept at all. It's a joyous, uplifting, emotional and foot tapping experience, and if there's any criticism it's that the 10pm deadline rushed up all too quickly. Both audience and band looked as if they could have gone for so much longer.
If you've not yet experienced an Eddi Reader gig - why not?
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