WORDS AND IMAGES BY KIERAN ANDREWS
Tonight is Lissie’s second stop on her “Craving Canyons Tour”. The “Craving Canyons” album has been noted by Lissie as the most personal album she has written, showing her emotional pain from the loss of her dog right to the breakup with her partner.
While I was waiting I asked some of the audience, what drew them to come and see Lissie tonight, “Lissie’s voice” and “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to see her since the Metallica cover “Nothing Else Matters” caught my attention in 201 1” pretty much sums it up.
The first to open the night was Hannah Ashcroft with a two-piece band consisting of one lead and one rhythm guitar, silenced the crowd with their emotive songs, the audience transfixed and listen to each lyric intently. What a beautiful, gentle set.
Next to hit the stage accompanied by the deep beat of the drums was Cat Clyde, a three-piece band of a rhythm guitar bass and drums. Again, following on from Hannah Ashcroft it is all about the words and the meanings of the songs. Infusing the crowd with each word painting beautiful pictures with music. As the set goes on the drums slowly become the dominant sound as the tempo picks up.
With a new album “Down Rounder” out this Friday 17th of January, Cat Clyde is giving the crowd a taste of what’s to come and they seem to be loving it.
Then it’s time for Lissie and her band, to enter the stage with loud cheers, with the nice addition of Hannah Ashcroft from the first band, as a support singer. Appealing to all ages there’s a very wide range in the audience, people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s are all packed in the venue.
Diving right into a song off “Craving Canyons” “unravel”, before lifting the tempo with “Sleepwalking” and “Don’t You Give Up On Me” which gets the crowd jumping.
Lissie is talking about her home town near the Mississippi river and how three men live there from Wales, this is going down very well with the Cardiff crowd.
As “Further Away” starts it is instantly recognised and is a crowd favourite, the rhythm of clapping from the audience starts to pulse to the music and the words are sung right back to Lissie with gusto and enthusiasm. Lissie performs her most successful song “When i’m alone” and this gets the audience jumping. Everyone is on their feet. Recognised as the song of the year by iTunes in December 201 0, it also featured in the end credits of the film “Dumb and Dumber”
And Lissie closes with “Nightmares” and then the obligatory “one more song”, chant breaks out, and so as not to disappoint, the band re-emerges to loud cheers “Everywhere I Go”, echo’s around the venue and Lissie’s voice shows its range hitting high notes you can feel, not just hear.
Then it’s the last song of the encore, as the song begins with beating the sound of the beating bass drum, and once again the whole audience claps along.. Towards the end of the song, Lissie jumps down, climbing onto the barriers and holding out the mic as the crowd repeats back to her what she sings. Before walking through the audience, singing and dancing. Making her way back to the stage to end the night’s performance.
Setlist
1/ Unravel
2/ Sleepwalking
3/ Flowers
4/ Best day
5/ Dyguom
6/ Oh Mississippi
7/ Sad
8/ Hero
9/ Further away
10/ Chasing the sun
11/ Carving canyons
12/ Lonesome wine
13/ When i’m alone
14/ In sleep
15/ Nightmares
16/ Everywhere I go
17/ Little loving
FOLLOW LISSIE
FOLLOW HANNAH ASHCROFT
FOLLOW CAT CLYDE
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
