Having arrived early for a change, especially mid-week, I was treated to a nice surprise in the shape of a young lady named, Lilly Rae Grant, from Manchester, who impressed us with set of lush laid-back guitar driven numbers. Excellent tunes and very impressive vocals, this young lady is definitely one to watch.

After several solo acoustic tours here and in the USA, Hannah Wicklund returns to British shores with a band, and she walks on in long white dress looking somewhat like Florence Welch, with an enormous smile on her face. Straight into a blistering guitar instrumental, it was clear she wasn’t taking prisoners. Promoting her new album, ‘War On Women; Calling All Good Men’, she creates a large-venue sound without, it seems, any effort at all. No grimacing or pouting, just an occasional smile. Her voice surprised me, to be honest. It’s strong but has a sweetness about it, yet when needed, the power to project is there and grabs your attention.

Obviously singing from the heart, with songs about female empowerment and the corporate system, as in ‘Evil Is a Corporation’, with its bluesy groove. Although there is a bluesy undertone to several tracks, it is by no means a blues album. It has a hard rock, folk-tinged underbelly, but in live form, it kicks ass. Even the R&B-flavoured ‘The Pier’ takes off into an incendiary crescendo.

The whole night was a mesmerising triumph from start to finish, with the crowd loving every minute and, like me, counting the time until Ms Wicklund plays in front of us again. Hopefully, not too long, and in a bigger venue. Awesome.

Photos by Geoff griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe