Such was the quality of our first encounter with Danni Nicholls at Maidenhead on the "Hear Your Voice" tour, it seemed only right to check back in, on her relatively local patch at The Stables, Milton Keynes. In the end it turned out to be a wise move for with Danni taking to the stage in the main auditorium - the shows may have shared the same set list yet in many ways they were quite different.
The most obvious difference was the size of venue, everything about the evening was simpler bigger and this was reflected in both the volume and clarity of the sound, the additional room that Danni's vocals had to swirl around in an that lighting that all added to a great performance.
There's a line in Dire Straits "Sultans Of Swing"
"Check out Guitar George, he knows all the chords
Mind, it's strictly rhythm, he doesn't want to make it cry or sing" - well tonight Sam Barratt made his guitar and indeed fiddle when called upon do whatever was required. The bigger venue acoustics just loved the sound that he was making as he helped bring "The Melted Morning" to life. The same should also be said of Mark Lewis on double and electric bass whose efforts brought such a warmth to proceedings.
Danni was clearly enjoing being on local turf, the sheer grin on hr face as she played the signature acoustic riff on "Losing It" was testament to that.
"Wild Is The Water" saw Sam's guitar almost steal the show, while "Little Fictions", Danni's latest single once again all but raised the roof.
With an audience keen to burst into song, "Where The Blue Train Goes" gave them an opportunity to find their voice.
Sam's fiddle on "Between The River & The Railway" simply added layers of Americana to the song buried away on Danni's "Time" EP.
Danni also looked much more at ease without a guitar to hold on to during "Look Up At The Moon", the final note of which, she seemed to sustain forever!
With the sumptuous crowd singalong of " Hear Your Voice" everything about the evening was simply that little bit more special.
