There is a vision of Courtney Marie Andrews departing a grand stage such as the splendid 900-seater Birmingham Town Hall with its extraordinary acoustics after delivering a spellbinding performance befit of a platform of grandeur. In the meantime, being present for immaculate shows like tonight at the slightly less spectacular Gorilla venue in Manchester captures the here and now perfectly.
The missing link from absorbing an abundance of music made available during the lockdown months of 2020 was the hugely anticipated live airing accompanying the release of OLD FLOWERS. These add so much more dimension to the music of Courtney Marie Andrews. Anyway that wait is now over and an inadvertent wrong is corrected.
It may have been a stroke of good fortune that personal circumstances and convenience shifted the opportunity to see a tour show from Birmingham on opening night to Manchester right at the heart of the UK schedule. This meant anecdotal evidence of potential jet lag and a set time deemed a touch short was almost blown away by the momentum of several shows. The set time here did just tip over the acceptable threshold of 60 minutes pre-encore and an extra 10 minutes to conform to convention. From a primarily lone status on stage, it was a case of quality trumping quantity. Few could doubt that Courtney Marie Andrews was in the groove and a comfortably packed venue gave her the utmost respect of a hushed landscape.
In line with other dates on this re-scheduled tour, Brighton-based duo Memorial opened the show with a 30 minute supporting set. Their brand of impressive harmonies gravitates into a lightly spun acoustic sound. They add a certain aura to the evening and with a further addition of some flagship songs could prosper independently in a conducive scene. Courtney quipped that she had first worked with them four years ago. You could clearly see that they were a good fit for opening these solo shows and this expanded into joining her on stage for several harmony pieces in the main set.
We learnt from an uncharacteristically chatty Courtney as observed from previous shows that this tour was originally planned as a full band one, but Covid logistics meant it had to be trimmed to a solo format. You can take your pick as to whether a full band or solo performance is your preferred mode. The former does offer a more rounded and fuller gig experience, but the later induces melting moments of the shivers to what one artist can do on stage with wonderful songs and an air of simplicity.
So it was a case of five songs on piano and the rest on acoustic guitar off a set list that from memory ran to sixteen songs. Among this choice we had all but one from OLD FLOWERS with the odd one out being the title track. It was tough to pick a standout moment from the new batch, but 'Guilty' sounded superb as she finally utilised the lonely piano three songs from the encore and 'Carnival Dream' was a new one to close the evening after perusing what happened on the first few shows on the tour. The most important thing was these new songs came to life and no doubt many will become staples in years to come.
All but two songs on the night came from the last three albums. The odd pair were a new song titled 'James Dean' and a live favourite in 'Near Me' which she said was becoming so requested that it would have to be elevated to the main set this evening. 2017's HONEST LIFE was a popular source with 'Rookie Dreaming' opening the show and 'How Quickly Your Heart Mends' proving one of the requested songs for the encore. No Courtney Marie Andrews Show is complete without the awesome 'Table for One', and 'Irene' completed the quartet shared this evening. Unfortunately, MAY YOUR KINDNESS REMAIN was largely left alone after featuring highly during her last tours in 2018. However we did have the title track with its immortal line 'broke on a barstool throwing your pay check away/ on overpriced booze, slots and valet'. Classic Courtney.
There really is something mesmerising when Courtney Marie Andrews steps into the limelight. It could be the poise, the stature or the steely gaze. She defines a whole movement of one person funnelling so much emotion and poetic comment through the median of song. The delivery is complete and when venues like the Gorilla present an ideal sonic landscape coupled with the most respectful of besotted audiences, magical gig moments surface and flourish. Welcome back Courtney Marie Andrews, the new album is well and truly out of the bottle. See you in 2022.