Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It is with the ferocity of a warrior’s heart to which we acknowledge that the world is not right, that it has always had its priorities wrong and the sense of balance that we are urged to seek to uphold the so called natural order, is nothing but a misaligned scale, weighted in the favour of the few, prejudiced by decisions taken long before we even had the chance to understand.
It takes a warrior, no matter in what shape or form they make take, to show just what has been missing from a world consumed with being consumed, with its slanted view perceived as being correct and proper, and even in the most unexpected places a phrase, a speech, or well aimed blow at some of so called great and good of international politics, can deliver a rising passion in the underbelly of the dispossessed and stoke the fire in the previously unaccounted for.
It was into this arena that Paloma Faith stepped, an evening of music that has captured the hearts and minds of her fans certainly but one wrapped in the blanket of compassion and urged thought, a night where song danced provocatively with public speaking, with a women’s view and expression of understanding and whilst there will be those who decry such statements from the pop world, it is with memory that such words can come from anyone if they truly believe in language they use and the personal stories in which to frame a truth.
The music was overwhelming, a great show of spirit and song writing, of music laid down by a woman to whom having eccentric tastes is a badge, quite rightly, of honour. It was also what was in between the run of songs that caught the ear, the stories, the how did certain songs take root, the urging for kindness, and if anyone should sneer at that thought, perhaps they have no reason to call themselves human.
The bright lights and glamour, the smile of the age and the ruminating on certain subjects such as motherhood and the way the world teeters on the edge of World War Three, was encompassing and dare it be said, beautifully eloquent. Songs such as The Architect, Guilty, My Body, Warrior, Kings and Queens and WW3 contained everything the dedicated and vocal crowd could ask for, and it was one which was delivered in the spirit of the warrior, one who has had the time to truly get to grips with some of the issues that should concern us all.
A great evening of entertainment from Paloma Faith, but also one that was fashioned out of the naked rawness of anger at a world that has completely lost its way.
Ian D. Hall