Barfly Liverpool, 15 December 2007

It’s usually the case that my last gig of the year is a beauty. Well, I wouldn’t bother otherwise, especially at this time of year… It also happened to be held on the night of the X-Factor final which thankfully I did not have to watch. The two events contrast sharply: the two singer/songwriters I would be seeing have struggled over a number of years to survive with their highly original, passionate writing and performance - not for them the massive TV, radio and press exposure received by less-talented musical star-gazers. Carina Round has supported and worked with some of the best in the business, and despite great UK album reviews judged that the potential USA market response would be more interesting for her. So a little over twelve months ago she moved to Hollywood and has been touring the States ever since generating income and fans. Lupen Crook is another musical maverick with a unique writing and performance style. What both artists share is an unpromising belief in what they do and how they do it. And that ladies and gentlemen usually leads to a quite fascinating live performance experience for anybody willing and able to expose themselves to it.

Now Liverpool in the week leading up to Christmas is not ideal for generating large live music audiences, as most punters are more interested in having a party than a deep and meaningful musical experience. So it was no surprise to find myself almost alone waiting for the venue’s doors to open. As the clock ticked past 8:00pm I decided to wander around to the venue’s artist entrance just to check that there was indeed a live show happening. Confirmation was given by the sight of a well-used and crammed, carelessly parked campervan which I guessed belonged to Lupen. Sure enough there on the window was Lupen’s name on A4, stuck to the vehicle’s window. Within minutes I found myself in the venue’s dressing room surrounded by Lupen and his band of Murderbirds, and a little later hugging the lady I hadn’t seen for a while, and who for me is still head and shoulders above 99.9% of the UK’s female singer/songwriters, Carina Round.

Lupen and his band, The Murderbirds, opened the show in front of a handful of people. Now it’s a lot easier to play in front of a large crowd than playing to very few people, but Lupen & co delivered. He opened with ‘Summer Time’ from his new album due for release in February 2008. The song starts in slow, contemplative mode and then explodes into rocky, raucous and angry vibe as he pleads for his ‘winter womb.’ ‘Young Love’ was next up, a bouncing, melodic feast of a song. During our chat in the dressing room I found Lupen to be a gentle, friendly and somewhat insecure guy. It then struck me during his performance that it was then that he unleashed his inner feelings, rather like some people need generous slugs of alcohol to blurt out what they really think. It’s in this context that Lupen’s music and vocal delivery starts to make sense. During a single song he will whine like a wounded dog, plead like a child and then spit out lyrics with the venom of a Cobra. The playing of The Murderbirds injects a punk instrumental backdrop that matches Lupen’s every expressive nuance with fractured rhythms, while adding drama of the volcanic kind.

The set consisted mainly of songs from his new album, ISCARIOT THE LADDER of which ‘Matthew’s Magpie’ and ‘Lucky Six are sure to become audience favourites. Lupen is unlike any artist or singer/songwriter you’ve heard or seen, and I’ve seen only one other artist musically disgorge themselves so openly and passionately on stage. Look out for his campervan in your neck of the woods because I can promise you a memorable musical experience.

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In the past I’ve written extensively about the exceptional and unique talents of Carina Round since first witnessing her Ryan Adams support performance some four or five years ago. I alluded above to ‘only one other artist musically disgorge themselves so openly and passionately on stage’, and by that I meant this young lady. She looks the part with her slinky, black, low-cut dress that contrasts sharply with her bright red shoes, with points to kill. She’s also happens to be very beautiful with expressive, large brown eyes. The task of trying to categorise Carina’s music is akin to building a pyramid, and would take as long as it took to build them. Suffice it to say that rock, jazz, and blues are the devices used to musically express the more intimate details of what the lady thinks and feels. If I was to compare her with anybody it would be PJ Harvey and Ani DiFranco but would hastily add that Carina possesses a sensual vocal delivery which is uniquely hers.

Alone with her guitar she proceeded to remind me how great an artist she is, and why her new American audience has fallen in love with her. It was fascinating to watch her play in a sparsely populated venue; the way she suddenly entered her own private world and verbalised it. If anything, she seemed to have expanded her vocal range while singing with even more passion, at one point tearing at her dress top and neck chain as she described the man whose picture featured on it. Highlights for me were the older songs from her FIRST BLOOD MYSTERY and THE DISCONNECTION albums, and ‘The City’ from her latest album SLOW MOTION ADDICT. A delightful moment arrived during the show when Carina invited two fans up on stage to sing backing vocals - very well as it turned out. From my chat with her she explained that during her short stay back in the Midlands she would be writing new songs for her next album, as back in the States much of her time is taken up by travelling the huge distances between performance venues. After her brilliant show I wondered whether the UK will be losing this great talent to the more open and welcoming USA. It remains to be seen but if it were the case this show would suffice as a fabulous goodbye. Here’s hoping…