Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Being asked to support Tori Amos on her latest tour must feel in some cases akin to finding a winning lottery ticket from a couple of months previous and then finding its worth more than you imagined. Whilst there have been many over the years who have this very immense privilege of working with arguably one of the greatest in depth lyric writers of the last twenty years, none perhaps have seemed to enjoy the sensation as much as Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou.
Like having a winning ticket to unlock your dreams, opening up for someone who has become a legend in the music world can also have its drawbacks. If an audience doesn’t take to you, if the feeling of unwarranted anxiety sets in the crowd as they do their utmost to ensure that their time is spent nervously anticipating their hero’s appearance, then, like any spectator, the intense gaze can in turn build up the pressure for the act on stage. For Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou, the developing passionate need for Ms. Amos to emerge was taken with good grace and like an Australian opening batsman coming to the crease, they swatted any balls of eager and understandable frustration away and in turn managed to make a lot of new fans.
That sort of response is always pleasing to see and their music also did them justice. Even with three new songs thrown into the set, the music surged like an acoustic tidal wave, capturing the hearts of all who would pay attention to the pair and sounding very cool in the aurally opulent surroundings of the Birmingham Symphony Hall. Tracks such as the opener A Proud Surrender, Grand Tales in Tired Covers, the excellent Cheap Wine as well as the new tracks, One and the Same, Up Mercatoria and Ex-Patriot were well received and sounded great as the duo’s close harmonies rebounded and reverberated graciously around the hall.
Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou are just one of those duos in which the temptation to blow your money on all their back catalogue would not be considered profligate or an extravagance, it would be the start of a beautiful new musical relationship in which to feel cherished.
Ian D. Hall