With the weather forecast distinctly gloomy, where better to be then The Green Note. For some months #TeamW21 have been monitoring when Lucy Zirins would next be playing London, with tonight’s show being a repeat of one that occurred back in August 2015, with just the playing order be the only difference.
The Will Shackleton Trio got things started with an enjoyable set, initially just playing solo he got everybody at ease with a version of “Everybody’s Talking” and continued in a similar vein when joined by a bassist and drummer. It was good stuff including a Leonard Cohen cover of “Tonight Will Be Fine” but it was not the real reason for the visit.
Lucy hails from Burnley, if you were not aware before they you could probably have guessed after a welcoming “Ow do!” as she settled down to play on a somewhat short stool. Kicking off with a new song “The Right Side Of Wrong”, it was immediately apparent that this was someone who could both play and sing beautifully even if she was later to admit that she was feeling a little nervous due to the intimacy of the gig.
Her EP comes with a fine band backing her, so it good to see that the songs still stood up well in this raw format. The EP as Lucy was to explain was a direct response to her leaving Lancashire for the bright lights of London, the title track “What’s In Front Of Me” takes on additional meaning when you know that back story and played solo made it even more personal. It was a nice mix of familiar songs and strong new compositions, “Close To The Wire” was one such new song which by her own admission had a lot of tricky picking in it!.
One of the highlights of the EP, “Falling To Pieces”, (a good country title if ever there was one ), was to follow perhaps played slightly faster than the EP due to a touch of nerves, it was however simply breath taking, the vocals perfectly catching the mood of the song.
The more the set continued, it became hard to comprehend why it had taken us so long to catch up with her.
Things were to finally close, with a duet, as Will Shackleton who had opened the night joined Lucy on stage for a debut of new song “One Drink Closer”. Not only was it a first for us, it was also a first for them, and so there was a requirement for a lyric sheet and knowing nods as to when to come in. Given this was a first try it was a mighty impressive start, evoking an almost “Fairytale Of New York” feel to it – I enjoyed it immensely.
On a night of extreme London fog happy to report that Lucy’s talent shone through like a lighthouse beam. It was only 8 songs but left #TeamW21 looking forward to catching up with her again as soon as possible.
Photo Credit: Al Stuart - https://redcap.viewbook.com/