Hannah Aldridge The Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh 7th July 2022 Review
Hannah Aldridge was at The Voodoo Rooms tonight and, as always, this was a performance from a songwriter who is never afraid to give you windows into her own personal life and soul through her words and music. The Voodoo Rooms is a fairly small and intimate venue, but that did not stop Hannah giving this performance (as she always does) 100% and performing as if in a far larger space.
I have to admit as I write this review that Hannah is a songwriter that I like for many reasons and it has been too long (2017) since events in this world and clashing review schedules have allowed me to catch up with her live on stage. There is often an undercurrent of darkness in Hannah’s words and music – not a malevolent darkness, but the darkness that is hiding somewhere within us all, if we are brave enough to admit that it is there. Somehow, Hannah taps into that darkness, and often it is the emotional scars left behind from her own life experiences of an early religious upbringing, personal relationships with family and friends, plus a razor-sharp observance of the world around her that provide the source material for her music. Listen closely to the lyrics on two very good albums from the back catalogue “Razor Wire” (2014) and “Goldrush” (2017) if you get a chance and you will quickly realise what a skilled songwriter Hannah is, and sometimes that skill gets overlooked a little by always very powerful on stage performances.
One of my main reasons for liking Hannah and her music so much is that you never quite know where you are with her as new music is always being written (often in collaboration with other artists) and often taking you in directions that you never expected. Hannah always, to me, seems to be a bit of a restless soul in music and tonight it was good to hear not only older songs, but ones new to me.
It was good to hear songs from the albums, and “You Ain’t Worth The Fight” and “Goldrush” are fine examples of how much contrast there can be in the songs of Hannah Aldridge. Hannah and Lachlan Bryan are also a very good duo on stage as proven by their cover of Warren Zevon’s “Carmelita”.
Music and life are always moving in unexpected pathways, and Hannah’s latest 7 inch single “Sinking” (October 2021), a cover of a song by Godhead (and featuring Charlie Miller from Godhead), has led to Hannah signing with Swedish alternative indie label Icons Creating Evil Art, and this unexpected musical strand shows so much promise for some really interesting work in the future.
Opening on stage for Hannah on this tour, and also doubling up as her band, were Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes, an Americana music group who hail from Australia. It took me a few songs to warm to Lachlan and the band, but once I watched a little bit closer how this band work together, I started to realise just how good and musically tight they were. There are no “over the top” displays of musicianship here, simply people who, despite having the obvious ability to do far more on-stage, know just what is required to make a song work and that is so often the true mark of a professional band.
There are some interesting songs from this band, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Middle Aged Man”, and “As Long As It’s Not Us” to name only two from this evening, but there were so many more.
In between the songs, Lachlan is a natural story teller who has that knack of putting an audience at ease with tales that you somehow hope are really true, including the fate of his grandfather’s ashes.
Review by Tom King (c) 2022
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
https://tomkinguk.weebly.com/
I have to admit as I write this review that Hannah is a songwriter that I like for many reasons and it has been too long (2017) since events in this world and clashing review schedules have allowed me to catch up with her live on stage. There is often an undercurrent of darkness in Hannah’s words and music – not a malevolent darkness, but the darkness that is hiding somewhere within us all, if we are brave enough to admit that it is there. Somehow, Hannah taps into that darkness, and often it is the emotional scars left behind from her own life experiences of an early religious upbringing, personal relationships with family and friends, plus a razor-sharp observance of the world around her that provide the source material for her music. Listen closely to the lyrics on two very good albums from the back catalogue “Razor Wire” (2014) and “Goldrush” (2017) if you get a chance and you will quickly realise what a skilled songwriter Hannah is, and sometimes that skill gets overlooked a little by always very powerful on stage performances.
One of my main reasons for liking Hannah and her music so much is that you never quite know where you are with her as new music is always being written (often in collaboration with other artists) and often taking you in directions that you never expected. Hannah always, to me, seems to be a bit of a restless soul in music and tonight it was good to hear not only older songs, but ones new to me.
It was good to hear songs from the albums, and “You Ain’t Worth The Fight” and “Goldrush” are fine examples of how much contrast there can be in the songs of Hannah Aldridge. Hannah and Lachlan Bryan are also a very good duo on stage as proven by their cover of Warren Zevon’s “Carmelita”.
Music and life are always moving in unexpected pathways, and Hannah’s latest 7 inch single “Sinking” (October 2021), a cover of a song by Godhead (and featuring Charlie Miller from Godhead), has led to Hannah signing with Swedish alternative indie label Icons Creating Evil Art, and this unexpected musical strand shows so much promise for some really interesting work in the future.
Opening on stage for Hannah on this tour, and also doubling up as her band, were Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes, an Americana music group who hail from Australia. It took me a few songs to warm to Lachlan and the band, but once I watched a little bit closer how this band work together, I started to realise just how good and musically tight they were. There are no “over the top” displays of musicianship here, simply people who, despite having the obvious ability to do far more on-stage, know just what is required to make a song work and that is so often the true mark of a professional band.
There are some interesting songs from this band, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Middle Aged Man”, and “As Long As It’s Not Us” to name only two from this evening, but there were so many more.
In between the songs, Lachlan is a natural story teller who has that knack of putting an audience at ease with tales that you somehow hope are really true, including the fate of his grandfather’s ashes.
Review by Tom King (c) 2022
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
https://tomkinguk.weebly.com/
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