With Storm Hannah having been battering the coast of the UK over the previous night, it was time for our own Storm Hannah at Country On The Coast in the shape of Hannah Paris more often to be found playing acoustically, but today with her band that will supporting her around the festivals this year.
The set began “Never Bring Me Down” an all out rocking start, with Hannah immediately engaging with the audience to get them clapping along, singing while holding the microphone as she danced around the stage.
Donning an acoustic for the second song, “You You You” the opening track of her 2017 "Short Stories" EP, she certainly fronted the band with confidence who were a little drum and bass heavy in the mix to the detriment of the guitars. The last time we saw Hannah acoustically, “Halfway Home” was the stand out song, it was still great today but what is gained in power from having the band, came at a price of losing some of the subtlety of the song.
For “Just You Wait” it was probably the opposite, with the band giving extra added oomph to the punchy parts of the chorus. It was not all original songs though and a cover of Alannah Myles' “Black Velvet” really suited Hannah well, the slowed paced song giving Hannah room to be expressive which she did with a big smile. A new song “Lost in The Wind” had a slightly more ethereal start to it via some neat guitar work, it also saw the drummer muffle his sound somewhat, on this slower song which made for an overall better sound. Hannah's excellent single of last year “LA” would sound good In whatever format it came and so it proved, with it being the best sounding song in the full band format.
The next song “Face In the Crowd” was one Hannah’s earliest efforts but paradoxically one of the most recent to receive the full band treatment, it came out of the process sounding remarkably fresh. Closing with “What The Hell” another high volume rocker she'll be a welcome presence on the festival circuit throughout the summer.