It was a night of momentum, renewal and accomplishment. The
latter is based on a personal odyssey of finally catching a Madison Violet show
after unfortunate cancellations and the inconvenient interception of that rare
British hindrance – snow. Renewal is the underlying inference of their current ‘The
Back to The Roots Tour’ following an experimental period of artistic diversion.
This fabulous show at Birmingham’s Glee Club took a few songs to get into its
groove, but soon the Canadian duo of Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac found
the sweet spot and glided effortlessly towards a fitting finale of ‘Small of My Heart’ and ‘Cindy Cindy’.
2013 was the year of missed opportunities to see the band live
in the UK and also one where they released an excellent live album titled COME
AS YOU ARE: LIVE which captured the band’s ascendancy following the release of
2009’s NO FOOL FOR TRYING. The success and acclaim that headed in the direction
of Brenley and Lisa was no more than they deserved after starting out in
Toronto just prior to the millennium switchover. Segments of this evening’s
show reflected fondly on those early days with the track ‘Haight Ashbury’ representing that recording period for Madison
Violet and being preluded by their love for San Francisco. Perhaps nostalgia has
skewed the misty thoughts of Toronto’s Green Room back then.
This two set show was housed in the venue’s studio room and
the intimate gathering created the ideal ambience for the beautiful songs to
flourish. These songs tended to fall into two camps; the old favourites and the
entire playing of the duo’s new album THE KNIGHT SESSIONS. This record sees
them fall back into a folk state of mind to the extent that half a dozen songs
from their interim pop album THE YEAR OF THE HORSE have been re-worked in an acoustic
format. It has to be admitted that this record must have passed me by or more
than likely marketed in an alternative direction.  |
| Brenley MacEachern |
The lead single from that project, in this renewed format,
was among the pick of the newish songs with ‘These Ships’ getting the pre-encore slot on the set list. Another
song from the new album ‘Same Sun’
also nestled into the memory bank, likely on the back of Lisa’s heartfelt story
of a communication between her mother and late brother. This was one of many
anecdotal interludes by both ladies as they reached out to bond with an
audience, of whom many were familiar with the older songs but were a little
starved of chances to hear them live.
Closely pushing the two encore tracks mentioned in the
introduction, other seasoned favourites were savoured such as ‘No Fool for Trying’, the wonderfully
melodic ‘Crying’, the invited
singalong ‘Come as You Are’ and the
competition winning ‘The Ransom’. Whilst
these numbers represent probably Madison Violet’s most influential recording
period, there is still the optimism that many fruitful years lie ahead. The
song writing skills are still smart and acute, aligned with a harmonious slice
of vocal nirvana and the pair being no mean artisans when it comes to stringed
instrumentation playing.
 |
| Lisa MacIsaac |
Lisa extols the diversity in the musician stakes, exercising
her skills on both electric and acoustic guitar, fiddle and mandolin. She
played most of the significant musical segments leaving Brenley to support from
the moments flitting between six-string and four string acoustic guitars coupled
with occasional harmonica. In fact the four-string had a worn exterior
suggesting many musical miles, endless adventures and the delightful custodian
of many self-generating songs. In fact Madison Violet are a self-fulfilling
entity of original songs, leaving room for only one cover this evening and a
version of Beyoncé’s ‘Daddy Lessons’;
a song turning more than a few heads in folk and Americana circles.
This successful show was the second of the duo’s extensive ‘The
Back to the Roots Tour’ which extends to over forty dates across the UK,
Germany, Switzerland and Austria. On the evidence of the live album released a
couple of years ago, the reception the band will get in Germany is likely to be
special. This theory is rubber stamped by finally getting the opportunity to
see the live performing skills of Lisa and Brenley at close quarters. Madison
Violet remains one of my favourite Canadian folk and roots bands alongside the
Good Lovelies, Wailin’ Jennies, Po Girl and the Be Good Tanyas. The good news
is that they are sounding sweet in 2016 and set to reign long into the future.
www.madisonviolet.com