Live Review: Hattie Briggs’ Trio, Nailsworth Subscription
Rooms, 17th May 2015
Tonight’s concert forms part of the Nailsworth Festival: a
week of art, crafts and music events situated in and around the small
picturesque Gloucestershire town. On arrival there is already a small crowd
gathered around the entrance; Hattie and her band are still sound checking, the
emerging sounds indicating the audience are in for a treat. Soon the crowd pour
into the room, the gig appears to be a sell-out; festival staff put out more
chairs at the back of the hall. The chairs themselves are more familiar sight
in school classrooms; the audience are about to have a masterclass from a star
pupil.
Hattie opens with Tilly’s
Song, taken from 2013’s EP My
Shepherd’s Hut, written for her friend’s twenty-first birthday. It is a
delightfully sweet song, the eponymous Tilly must be proud of her friend. A Beautiful Mind, a tribute to late folk
singer Pete Seeger, is sung with meaning and sincerity. It is not hard to see
(and hear) why the song has received air play on Radio 2 and become album Red & Gold’s lead single. The high
ceiling of the Subscription Rooms allow Hattie’s voice, though quiet in volume,
to have maximum impact and is acoustically stunning.
On Your Way, the
first of four new songs performed during the evening, indicates a more positive
state of mind for the theme of the next album. The next song Autumn Leaves, previously covered by
artists such as Eva Cassidy and Edith Piaf, is mesmerising. As the song
finishes a member of the audience behind me sums up the feeling in the whole
room by exclaiming, “Oh wow”. Wow indeed.
Hattie switches to the keyboard and a brief moment of panic
crosses her face when no audible sound emerges; thankfully it is sorted out
within seconds and Hattie maintains her composure with good humour. Share Your Heart, one of the stand-out
tracks from Red & Gold, is next.
The song, about learning to love yourself in order to share your heart with
others, seems to tell the tale of a Hattie from long ago, still present but
gradually fading into the past. After it finishes Hattie ironically remarks,
“You can tell I was feeling really good when I wrote that one, I wonder what
changed”. A sharp contrast to new song Lift
Me Up, a complete step change; a Hattie now looking towards the future.
Without A Smile,
the first song Hattie wrote aged 17, shows that even at a young age there was
potential and talent waiting to be discovered. Hattie likens the song to an old
jacket, ready to be taken out and worn again. With just piano and voice on this
song the cellos which have hitherto been provided by Asha McCarthy and Barney
Morse-Brown, are notable in their absence; this is the Hattie Briggs’ Trio
after all. Hattie says that the motto when recording the album was if in doubt
add more cello; Asha and Barney certainly do this in spades. The songs
throughout the evening are enhanced from those of the album versions; further
deepening the richness and emotional core of the originals. This is no more
evident on the final song of the first half, All About Love, which Hattie dedicates to a couple celebrating
their second wedding anniversary. Considering the song’s optimism and
romanticism it is a seemingly appropriate gesture.
The second half continues to show Hattie, Asha and Barney’s
incredible talents. Sacred Heart, a
Civil Wars cover, is sung entirely in French. Hattie admits to being the most
nervous about this song; her former French teacher is in the audience. However,
Hattie delivers an A* performance.
Despite the more positive vibe to her new material, the
lyrics to Happy In Your Arms, “…poison in your lips and in your fingertips…”
show, that at times, dark undertones are ever present. Nevertheless, new song You Only Live Once suggests living in
the moment seems to be Hattie’s goal. She says that she resisted calling the
song “YOLO”; it is easy to forget that she is only 22; lyrically, vocally and
in person she is already wise beyond her years.
Fields Of Gold
receives the biggest applause of the night, plus an extra well-deserved
appreciation for Asha and Barney’s cello playing. The spirit of Eva Cassidy is
surely looking down on Hattie with a smile. The version is a testament to the
significant influence which the late singer had on Hattie, so much so Eva’s
brother Dan produced and played violin on the track for the album.
Hattie finishes with Pull
Me Down, a slow-burning song about resisting the perils of the music
industry’s way of changing artists into something they are not. Hattie is true
to her words; her songs and performance speak nothing but honesty. Called back
for an encore the trio perform Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. The audience needs no encouragement to join in; they
openly rejoice at an evening of a 19-song spectacular. Indeed Hattie, Asha and
Barney’s performance must be credited with high praise.
The most wondrous element is Hattie herself. Both her
performance and persona seems a world away from that at the Stroud Fringe
Festival in August 2014. The transformation in a mere nine months is astounding.
Sharing anecdotes about her older brother, vintage suitcases, and her beloved
fifteen-year-old dog Panda, her confidence with audiences has expanded
ten-fold. She seems to be gradually unlocking the shackles of her past, her
heart set free from the uncertainty which, in her own words, “…have haunted her for years…” The
experience of her recent five week tour supporting duo Kathryn Roberts &
Sean Lakeman has paid off handsomely and has given the exposure her music
richly deserves. The new songs have set a president for greater things to come.
If this is what nine months can do, it is most certainly Still With Hope I See an ever brighter future for Hattie Briggs.
8.5/10
Set List
- Tilly’s Song (from My Shepherd’s Hut EP)
- A Beautiful Mind
- On Your Way (new song)
- Autumn Leaves (Jo Stafford/Eva Cassidy cover)
- Godspeed
- Share Your Heart
- Lift Me Up (new song)
- Without A Smile
- All About Love
Interval
- Old Eyes
- Sacred Heart (The Civil Wars cover)
- Happy In Your Arms
- Your Song (Elton John cover)
- You Only Live Once (new song)
- Fields Of Gold (Sting/Eva Cassidy cover)
- Still With Hope I See
- Castle On The Sand (new song)
- Pull Me Down
Encore
- Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover)
No comments:
Post a Comment