Cards on the table, I’m a guitar music kinda guy, but, as they say, variety is the spice of life, so there’s no reviewing of a band full of skinny indie kids tonight. It’s something a bit different, a bit more…disco.
It’s brought to us by local promoter Harvest Sun, for whom the tagline ‘something a bit different’ could have been invented, with the breadth of acts they put on in Liverpool are plentiful and varied and they are rewarded with a sell out Hangar 34 tonight.
Last time they put them on in Liverpool it was in a venue half this size, so word of mouth has obviously got out about this group.
It’s Say She She, a three-piece from Brooklyn and they are taking the live scene by storm. Tonight they are back in town promoting last year’s second album, the Top 50 charting, Silver, the follow up to 2022’s debut Prism.
Arriving early at the venue to beat the crowds, in time to catch tonight’s support Abby Jeanne, also from the US, who, along with her band, both visually and sonically, look and sound like Adele transported back to the 60’s.
Perusing the audience, it’s the not usual set of gig-goers you get used to seeing. There’s ’s more chinstrokery than boogie-ing, but she garners a great reaction at the end of her upbeat set.
Preceded by their four-piece backing band, Say She She arrive bang on 9:00 and kick straight into Silver’s opening track ‘Reeling’.
The three female, classically-trained vocalists, Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown, who make up SSS look genuinely delighted with the crowd’s reaction, which remains blisteringly loud and sustained with each passing song, the audience treating each one as a beloved friend.
‘Fortune Teller’ evokes the first big sing (and dance) along of the evening, the three harmonies interacting perfectly with the band, who seem to be rehearsed to within an inch of their lives and with not a duff note all evening.
As soulful as the disco tunes are on record, there’s an extra layer to them when heard live with the baying audience loving the impromptu dance routines, especially on ‘Trouble.’
There’s a startlingly thrilling cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Slippery People’, before they get serious with the fierce ‘NORMA’ which sees them advocating for “women’s rights, and all human rights.”
After a glorious ‘Don’t You Dare Stop’, which does a great job in showcasing the three different vocalists, they leave the stage, leaving the band to indulge themselves in a jamming session which goes on a smidge too long and also sees the crowd getting a touch restless.
However, this is all forgotten, once the trio return to more ferocious cheers, with a glittery costume change and treat us to the evening’s highlight ‘Astral Plane’.
The mobile phones come out and the dancing continues for main set closer ‘Questions’, as the seven people on stage are all beaming (as they have been all night) at this reaction.
They are cheered back on for an encore of ‘Forget Me Not’ and a cover of ‘I Believe In Miracles’; the 90 minute set is one of soulful discodelic joy.
They have already made plans to come back in November, which will see the venue (Content) double in capacity again, at this rate they’ll be playing the Arena in a couple of tours’ time, which wouldn’t be surprising at all.
So, sometimes it pays to step out of your musical comfort zone, if you are able to be treated to gleeful nights like this.
