The Liquid Ship is possibly the tiniest venue I've ever encountered in my life. It's lovely, however; there's something almost homey about it, and due to its size the gig was pretty intimate.
The Living Room Sessions is the recording made of the artists who played. Sadly I missed the last act, Brian Cunningham, because I had to get my last train, but a listen to the CD I received on my way in suggests that I should look out for him.
I arrived in time to catch the end of Stewart Ross (Holy Folks). The three songs I caught were charming enough, but his very strong accent put me off a bit. His lyrics were generally really good, but "you're a bad, bad lassie" made me cringe a little. He won through with other lines such as "everyone loves tuna but no one wants to see a dolphin die".
Up next was Rachel McLennan, who has a beautiful voice, and the lyrics of her songs were fantastic. I'm going to seek out some more of her stuff—she sang a couple of songs about a relationship gone wrong that I related to, and I just really enjoyed her set.
Eve, however, blew them out of the water. The last time I went to see live music that really made me grin like this was Devotchka, and I've been listening to them for quite a while now, so I was already quite attached to them. Eve's voice is nothing like anything I've ever heard before: at times beautiful, and, at its best, heart-wrenching. I got totally lost in it when I was listening—I've rarely heard anyone sing with such emotion. Think Kurt Cobain's rendition of
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, and that's the level of emotion Eve manages to convey when she's singing. Her songs are about issues she's clearly passionate about
: her final song,
Flesh and Blood - was just wow. "Your way to Heaven, is the right way to Hell" was spat so vehemently. Also, Joni Mitchell is disgustingly difficult to cover well. I've heard lots of people try, but very few actually succeed. Eve managed to make
River completely her own—the lines "I wish I had a river, so I could skate away" were so sad and wistful.
Don't just take my word for it—I urge you to check Eve's music out for yourself. You can hear her here:
www.myspace.com/theladyeve. I'll be waiting impatiently for the next time she plays.
