The Gossip never did it for me on record. The songs were there alright, but the lo-fi – actually, make that no-fi – production sucked all the energy and dynamism out of them. Live In Liverpool, though, solves that problem. All you need to do is wave a photo of the band in front of your face and you’ve pretty much got The Gossip live experience. ‘Eyes Open’ has the sort of dirtily grinding guitars that were popular in the ’70s, and Hanna Blilie’s drumming has the loose-limbed steadiness of prime time John Bonham. Talking of Led Zep, despite the unfortunate fact that she’s as famous for her looks as her talent, Beth Ditto’s full-lunged squall would give even Robert Plant the heebie-jeebies.
While the songs from last year’s Standing In The Way Of Control go down best, their early, bluesier material works brilliantly, with ‘Swing Low’ and the sprinting ‘Fire/Sign’ being particular highlights. At times the trio lack the kind of co-operative cacophony only a larger band can create, a fact most in evidence when they can’t lift ‘Listen Up!’ to the kind of heights it needs to be a truly thunderous closer. Even still, their rendition of their last album’s eponymous hit is so invigorating it could be massive all over again, its thrash-soul showing off Ditto’s vocal range to the full. And, at the end, when she tells the audience to be careful on their way home, she could be your Mam as well as your cool sister. What a hero.
Tim Smyth
Key Track: ‘Are You That Somebody?’