Gig review: Phill Franey @ Little Green Cafe, Aigburgh
Thursday 3rd June 2010
On route to Lark Lane we stopped for a quick drink at the Little Green Cafe Bar on Aigburth Rd. The menu looked good so we decided to eat and my girlfriend asked the waitress, “When is your acoustic night on?” “Tonight” came the reply, “A guy called Phill Franey is playing”.
Faced with the choice of either walking to Lark Lane or staying put, drinking draft Staropramen and listening to free music we decided to stay put and it turned out to be a great decision.
I’d not heard of Phill before and he came on at 8:30pm on the dot and was fantastic from the first note. He started off with an excellent version of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’. I texted my mate Jonathon who’s a big Van fan and asked if he’d heard of Phill. ‘He’s my mate’s cousin’ came the answer, adding that ‘the family are musical and his brother is a pianist. It’s a small world.
Anyhow Phill continued with songs from The Animals (House of the Rising Sun), U2 (Angel of Harlem), Nilsson (Everybody’s Talking) and the Beatles (This Boy) in between his own songs such as ‘Bifter’, ‘The Ballad of Snakehips’ and ‘The Attention Seeker’.
The venue, although small had a good sound. Phill put a lot of energy into his playing and the sound from his Taylor acoustic and Marshall amp was crisp and clear. Phill’s vocal range was impressive too and I’d definitely go and see him again.
The food was great, the staff friendly and we will be back at the Little Green Cafe Bar on Thursdays at 8:30pm again.
Next Thursday’s band will be The Loose Moose String Band who I saw recently at the Liverpool Beer Festival in the crypt of the Catholic Cathedral and although the Little Green Cafe Bar is a much smaller venue I’ve no doubt it will be a fantastic show.
Review © 2010 Neil Davidson
This is now a weekly event and a website will be along very soon. In the meantime if you want to find out who is performing each week either call the Cafe on 0151 727 6515 or better still turn up on the night and be pleasantly surprised.
