On 19th February Courtney Marie Andrews began her tour of the UK and Europe with a show at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club. Along with her band, consisting of Taylor Zachry on bass, Matt Carroll on drums and on “1000 instruments” – primarily lead guitar and keys – Jerry Bernhardt, Courtney played her new album – Valentine – through live for the first time. I am uncertain as to whether it was sold out, but there was very little room left in the room for anyone else.
Arriving on stage to applause, Courtney and band launched into Pendulum Swing – the opening song from Valentine – before moving smoothly into Keeper. They performed the complete album, in order and it sounded great. There were still many instrumental layers to the songs – including Courtney playing flute – and the band, who provided backing vocals, had a higher vocal range than expected.
Courtney spoke to the audience after Magic Touch – song four – getting a “good so far” appraisal from an audience member. Moving from her acoustic to keyboards, she continued with Little Picture of a Butterfly and followed it with a poem from her latest book over the outro before it seamlessly became Outsider.
Following Outsider, Courtney spoke of her Leeds tradition – eating at Lupe’s before the gig. The “only proper Mexican in the UK”. The next song, Everyone Want to Feel Like You Do featured some great guitar shredding from Jerry.
For Only the Best, there was further movement. Jerry went to the keyboards and Courtney moved to electric guitar. She described Jerry’s setup as “a spaceship”.
It is interesting how things that strike you about a song when listening to a recording change their level of importance when you hear them played live. The repeated lines at the end of a few of the songs on the album work much better when you hear them in a less controlled environment.
The conclusion to the album, Hangman, sounded beautiful live and the more obvious electric guitar added an extra layer to the sound.
After introducing the band, the second half of the show proceeded. Playing songs from her back catalogue, she started with Standing in the Rain. Continuing with Irene from Honest Life and Burlap String and Break the Spell from Old Flowers. The rest of the show was more fan favourites, with Table For One making an appearance in the encore.
The stage was dressed with small birds, primarily white, in two different sizes. The larger ones looked like doves, the smaller ones had more extravagant tails – see photos for what I am trying to explain – and a single red one, which looked like a cardinal. When asked if they had names, Larry was suggested by Matt, with Jerry suggesting Dave in an interesting cockney accent.
The audience was attentive and enthusiastic, but I was disappointed to see how few in the front knew the words to the new album – it has been out for over a month now. I do – but I admit I did also review it, so probably listened far more times than the average, and more intently.
It was a great show. If you enjoy Courtney Marie Andrew‘s music and get a chance to see her on this tour, take it. She has three more UK dates, before heading to the continent.
About The Author
