Band On The Wall, Manchester 9 May 2011

Okay, so I was nervous, worried even, that Sarabeth Tucek live would not sound as good live as on her wonderful album GET WELL SOON. Oh me of little faith! You see it’s such a stupendously moving and beautiful album; a potentional Shakenstir album of the year; one wonders whether anybody could be this good in both writing and performing.

The venue couldn’t have been better. The Band On The Wall is a not-for-profit venue with good acoustic quality and an intense feeling that the people running it really care about music and musicians. On the night Sarabeth was playing a support role to The Leisure Society in her quest to meet and greet UK music-lovers, with some success judging by the number of people who had followed her to this venue from a previous event.

My attention was initially drawn to Tucek by her latest album called GET WELL SOON released in April. Its primary subject matter is the death of her father (“an impressionistic rendering of a time ruled by grief”) and she explained its creation as follows: “It’s odd how placid a lot of music seems now; so washed out in sound and feeling. It’s like antidepressant music to take antidepressants to. I don’t give a shit. I’m more likely to buy a new book now than a new record” says Tucek.

The record’s narrative ends with the title track and a resolution of sorts. “I feel like I’m either the patient or the doctor, somebody always has an ache,” she says. “When I wrote the title track I had a friend of mine on my mind. She was so sad… just inconsolable and it was painful to see her like that. The title is a reminder to keep myself well. It’s hard to explain the ferocity of the grief I experienced when my father died. I really felt like it was going to kill me, so to be here… well, I just wanted to remind myself of what I survived.”