On 19th February Courtney Marie Andrews began her tour of the UK and Europe. She started with a show at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club. Courtney played her new album – Valentine – live for the first time. Her band accompanied her. The band features Taylor Zachry on bass. It includes Matt Carroll on drums. Jerry Bernhardt plays “1000 instruments,” primarily lead guitar and keys. I am unsure if it was sold out. However, there was very little room left in the venue for anyone else.
Courtney and the band arrived on stage to applause. They launched into Pendulum Swing, the opening song from Valentine. Then, they moved smoothly into Keeper. They performed the complete album, in order and it sounded great. There were still many instrumental layers to the songs. Courtney played the flute. The band provided backing vocals and had a higher vocal range than expected.
Courtney spoke to the audience after Magic Touch. It was song four. She received a “good so far” appraisal from an audience member. She moved from her acoustic to keyboards. She then continued with Little Picture of a Butterfly. She followed it with a poem from her latest book over the outro. 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 shifts when you hear them played live. The repeated lines at the end of some songs on the album work better. They resonate more when you hear them in a less controlled environment.
The conclusion to the album, Hangman, sounded beautiful live. 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. There was 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. 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. However, I admit I did also review it. So, I 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.
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