Fact #121415
When:
Short story:
Singer-songwriter Marie Roche plays at Invention Arts, Bath, UK.Full article:
Johnny Black (audience) : Roche’s set, her first with her new band, was something to treasure from start to finish. The all-acoustic four piece line-up overcame sound problems that would have derailed many other young performers, to deliver a show that was rich in intelligent songs with haunting melodies. Double-bass man Charlie Collis (who also produced her recent debut album) deserves special mention for driving the set along, and pulling a surprising variety of tones out of his huge instrument, while drummer James Brabner proved himself a master of understated but always effective percussion. The band’s invaluable fourth member, the multi-instrumentalist Terry Payne, added colour and texture on guitar, flute and lap dulcimer. This is a band to be reckoned with.
The star of the show, though, is Roche herself, delicately picking complex but sweet acoustic guitar lines, with her blond hair streaming over her shoulders in the spotlight. It’s rare to see her kind of easy rapport with an audience in one so young, and her songs sparkle with invention and imagination. Lazy grooves like Imagine Me, Take A Bow and Two Feet In One Shoe have the power to go on and become much-loved classics when Roche moves on to bigger things. This felt, from start to finish, like one of those gigs that people will lie about in twenty years time, claiming to have been there on the night. I consider myself lucky to be able to say that I really was.
Tweet this Fact
The star of the show, though, is Roche herself, delicately picking complex but sweet acoustic guitar lines, with her blond hair streaming over her shoulders in the spotlight. It’s rare to see her kind of easy rapport with an audience in one so young, and her songs sparkle with invention and imagination. Lazy grooves like Imagine Me, Take A Bow and Two Feet In One Shoe have the power to go on and become much-loved classics when Roche moves on to bigger things. This felt, from start to finish, like one of those gigs that people will lie about in twenty years time, claiming to have been there on the night. I consider myself lucky to be able to say that I really was.