Issue 87 / April 2018

REVIEWS
Howie Payne
+ Marvin Powell
+ Zuzu
Harvest Sun and Evol @ The Unity Theatre
– 20/02
Wiley
+ Ms Banks
+ Rico Don
+ Wavey Joe
24 Kitchen Street – 01/03
Fans are almost spilling out of the door for the appearance
of WILEY, the East London rapper and Godfather of grime who
greets a sold-out, pumped-up, hardcore room in one of the Baltic
Triangle’s most exciting venues. Added to his UK tour due to
popular demand, the 24 Kitchen Street show sold out in days,
showing that Wiley’s ongoing relevance as a pioneer in the
British underground music scene remains undimmed. Opening
his set with Been A While, from his forthcoming album Godfather
II, Wiley erupts onto the stage amid screaming fans who ricochet
off the walls to his fast-paced delivery, proving he’s still got the
ability to pen a current hit two decades into his career.
Jumping from tasters of his early eskibeat instrumentals to
more mainstream tunes (Wearing My Rolex, Heatwave), Wiley
Wiley (Day Howarth / dayhowarth.com)
Wiley (Day Howarth / dayhowarth.com)
sprints through a back catalogue comprising 11 studio albums
and multiple genre-defining tracks. The dirty bassline of 6 In The
Bloodclart Morning has the room jumping, and Can’t Go Wrong
causes the crowd to explode with energy, chanting every lyric
back to him.
At this point in his career, Wiley could be playing sell-out
arena shows with ease, making this intimate show even more
special. Famed for nurturing new artists, Wiley knows the
importance of giving something back to the scene that nurtured
him. This gig follows suit, with Wiley flipping the programme
and bringing on his support act right at the end; a logical move
when showcasing rising talent, offering MS BANKS a platform in
front of a crowd already riled up and excited about the music on
the bill. Ms Banks kills it: her set is short, sweet and packed with
sass, and tracks like Come Thru and Bangs could confidently be
named amongst the highlights of the night.
Wiley shares the stage with local rappers RICO DON and
WAVEY JOE amongst others at the end of his set, and for us, this
is something to be celebrated, especially with the rude health
that Liverpool’s own grime scene finds itself in. Wiley continues
to take risks, promote exciting new acts, and ultimately create
experiences set to alter our understanding of UK rap music.
Sinéad Nunes / @SineadAWrites
While the Everyman picks up architecture awards and
plaudits for reintroducing its repertory company and the Empire
brings in large-scale West End productions, the Unity Theatre,
sitting pretty on a Georgian back street, quietly goes about its
business of putting on edgy independent productions which push
the envelope, hosting a diverse array of comedy, performing arts
and music shows.
Similarly in Liverpool, there are a host of names which
readily reach the lips of music fans when illustrating the city’s
fine lineage of songwriters, while others ply their trade with
comparatively less emphatic fanfare. Tonight, such institutions
align as two pillars of Liverpool’s independent music scene bring
together a bill of artists who deserve their place in said pantheon.
There’s a pleasing structure to tonight’s line-up. At the top
of the bill, HOWIE PAYNE is somewhat of an old hand, who has
long since worked his way into the hearts of Merseyside music
aficionados with a cult band from a golden age. In support is
MARVIN POWELL whose two EPs have won him many admirers
and who is enjoying a transcendence from the local scene.
And opening up tonight is a musician who, with only a couple
of singles in the public domain, returns to Merseyside with the
ink drying on a Virgin Records contract. Three generations of
Merseyside guitar slinging song mongers.
ZUZU admits to nerves as she enters stage-right and it’s
understandable as the Unity Theatre setting is a much more
sober one than the plastic cup and crowd surfing environs of the
O2 Academy (the Wirralite’s last appearance in the Bido Lito!
reviews section). As soon as she starts her set though the anxiety
dissipates. Tracks like Clever Gains, played solo with just an
electric guitar, show their quality in this stripped-back form.
Marvin Powell bounds on through the black curtain next to
effortlessly run through a selection of songs from his impressive
oeuvre. Whether on his own or accompanied by a second
guitarist, the Skeleton Key Records man weaves a thick web with
songs which mesmerise with melody and paint a vivid picture
lyrically. Wind Before The Train, with its carefree vignettes of
getting out of town to a seaside destination (“Pissing in the
dunes / Listening to our favourite tunes”) is infectious in its
spirit. Salt and Buried already sound like classics, partly due to
their 70s aesthetic but mostly due to the timeless quality of the
songwriting.
Howie Payne has a fan in tonight who apparently goes
to see him everywhere but threatens to rankle the captivated
audience tonight at the Unity. Each song is punctuated by a
flurry of drunken nonsense. However, Payne is unperturbed and
manages to diffuse the situation by drawing attention to the
rabble rouser; suddenly his slurred comments are taken in good
spirits. It’s testament to the man’s easy going charm (Payne’s,
not the drunken numpty’s). Payne’s set is a pleasing mixture of
new tracks from his latest album Mountain, some classics from
the back catalogue of his band The Stands and a selection from
his underrated solo debut Bright Light Ballads. The Bob Dylan
to Marvin Powell’s Nick Drake, Payne deals more in abstract
imagery which create a world we all willingly enter. Newer tracks
such as Some Believer, Sweet Dreamer retain the songwriter’s
Americana sensibilities and sit comfortably next to Stands
classics like Here She Comes Again and All Years Leaving. Again,
stripped down to their bare bones, these songs show their quality
in acoustic form.
Tonight is a remarkable showcase of Liverpool’s unsung
songwriting talent. The setting of the Unity allows the three
performers to hold the audience’s attention and gives their
extraordinary creations the room to lasso the imagination of
those in attendance.
Sam Turner / @SamTurner1984
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