Music Review: John Power, Zanzibar, Liverpool

Dec 17 2007 by David Harrison, Liverpool Daily Post

THE La’s bassist and Cast front man, John Power, played a mesmerising set at the Zanzibar in Liverpool.

Power’s music has always had a sound that seems to cover the history of Liverpool music, from folk to The Beatles, the sound being distinct, the songs resonating familiar tones.

The dirt-trodden songs from his latest solo album, Stormbreaker, wouldn’t be out of place being performed in some old Liverpool pub – Peglegs in the Dingle perhaps, or Flannigans, on Mathew Street.

Power and his band finally made the stage around midnight, ambling through the audience they grabbed their instruments and dived straight into the opening song.

He seems to have re-established himself after the 2005 La’s reunion, and his songs have a new rootsy, raw clout which have elements of blues, skiffle, rock ’n’ roll and folk, such as the earthy Jumpin Bean, the delicate folk of Willow Weep, and the rock ’n’ roll of Ain’t No Woman, which he played like a man possessed.

There was a lot of hand-clapping and foot-stomping by Power and his band, and a nice bit of slide guitar accompanied the excellent, manic drumming and strum- ming, as Power knocked out song after song in a set that lasted ages.

He was wholly concentrating on new material, mostly from his latest album, though there were a few even newer songs – all in a similar earthy vein.

There wasn’t a La’s or Cast song on the set list, not that the audience was complaining much; it’s not every day you see a local legend playing in a Liverpool club.

Then, after an encore, they were gone; they just sauntered off the stage and disappeared into the audience.