Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

ME And Deboe, Music Room, Liverpool. December 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Innocent faith may be examined, others can find ways to test your belief, make you question the foundation of all that you know and have come to hold dear; for some that faith is the epitome of their existence, for a small refuge of lovers and attendees, faith is about watching Britain’s answer to America’s finest ever duo, Simon and Garfunkel, and understanding that the two women on  stage now have reached a point where they can be considered true heirs, recipients to the crown of beautiful and insistent music.

The faith shown comes from listening to one of Liverpool Acoustic favourite bands ME And Deboe and taking their music as an analysis, an investigation of how the dynamic of the two voices moves with the two guitars at hand, a fast beating pulse, cast iron structure and placing of lyrics, poets come in many forms but like the great Simon and Garfunkel, it is being able to write for the person standing beside you and knowing they will treat your thoughts as sacred, that you are comfortable with them but also the element of friction is like fire, it burns fast and creates havoc, it inspires excellence.

You can perhaps be too close to the machine that beats inside the soul of such beings, to attached to get to grip with the range of emotions they put you through, but for Mercy Elise and Sarah Deboe being attached and allowing the fuse to burn is all part and parcel of attaining beauty, of thrilling the audience, and as part of the Liverpool Acoustic evening of duos, going beyond the thrill is expected, being superb is the least they could ever be.

Such praise can always be a cause for concern, once you have reached a certain level people instinctively find ways to knock you, it is after all a rather British thing to do, it is unfair, but it is also natural.

There should be no such concerns regarding ME and Deboe for as long as they want to play together their tenure as Britain’s premier Folk duo is arguably assured, and in songs such as Culture Faith, the new single Knowing, the fan favourite Mother Shipton, Friend, Go Live, Forward and Glass Face, the ethos of the evening that it takes two was advanced and greatly enjoyed.

To live with the lives of Simon and Garfunkel forever in their ears must be consuming, however as their set continues to evolve and their sound consumes the audience, it is a comparison that bares weight and fruit, to be in their presence is to know that and rejoice.

Ian D. Hall