As part of the Liverpool International Music Festival that takes place over the August bank holiday, this night was part of a series of themed commissions entitled Music Migrations.
The Port of Liverpool acted as a conduit for much that influenced music in the U.K. in general and Liverpool in particular. Each time a ship docked at the Pier Head after crossing the Atlantic, the Cunard Yanks would bring home records unavailable over here and the music spread through the clubs. American airmen based at Burtonwood would travel to Liverpool to visit venues in Liverpool such as the Somali, bringing with them music they loved and was being heard over here for the first time.
This concert, expertly co-ordinated by Steve Levine, traced how these imports influenced the evolution of music in Liverpool. The evening was narrated with her usual effortless panache by Janice Long, who had been set up in a mini-studio to the side of the stage. The house band for the evening was led by Amsterdam's Ian Prowse, a man who has an awareness of musical heritage coursing through his veins. He was joined by Lightning Seeds bassist Martyn Campbell, Waterboys keyboard player Richard Naiff (a fine musician who can be compared to the late Ian McLagan), Paul Weller's drummer Steve White and singer/guitarist Jalen Ngoda.
From the very start it was clearly going to be a special evening as Natalie McCool led with a beautiful rendition of the old Irish folk song She Moved Through The Fair which segued into The Leaving Of Liverpool as Ian Prowse took over. From there, the highlights were numerous as we were guided along a musical timelime that came to define rock culture. There were tributes to such masters as Leadbelly, Elvis Presley and The Everley Brothers, as well as Lonnie Donegan, all represented on film by Mark Kermode's skiffletastic Dodge Brothers. They were terrific, but the organisers surely missed a trick by not inviting Mike Badger and the Shady Trio to play those songs live.
One of the most positive aspects of the night was the acknowledgement of how important music by black artists has been to the story. An aspect criminally overlooked by the 2013 film The City That Rocked The World. There could be few better singers to underline this than Christopher Ellis, the son of Rocksteady pioneer Alton, whose birthday was just a few days later on 1st September. Ellis also provided a show-stopping moment with Arthur Alexander's You Better Move On before making way for the amazing five part harmonies of Mic Lowry as they saluted The Chants with a superlative Sweet Was The Wine.
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The Beatles, of course, were featured, but they didn't dominate proceedings as they often do on these occasions. There was a succinct My Bonnie in reference to the Hamburg days.
Natalie McCool returned with an exquisite, tear- inducing Wondrous Place and Terri Walker brought the house down with an emotionally charged Anyone Who Had A Heart, which can rarely have been sung with such intensity.
Quite where Chris Difford fitted into the narrative is unclear, but he was most welcome as he treated us to a quartet of Squeeze hits. He entertained with his droll wit was greeted with a wave of goodwill.
A pared down line-up of The Farm followed with a lovely take on Gerry and the Pacemakers criminally overlooked Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying, before All Together Now rang through the theatre, Peter Hooton proclaiming it to be 'a song for everyone'. Ian Prowse rounded closed the first part of proceedings with a particularly poignant Does This Train Stop On Merseyside.
After a break the story was brought up to date with Dave McCabe and the Ramifications' pop tinged, fractured rhythms performed by a raggle taggle crew dressed in hooded gowns and sporting McCabe lookalike masks.
Who knows in what direction the timeline will be heading, but it is bound to be worth staying on for the ride.
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