It’s a long-held belief of mine that a great song can be played just as easily as an acoustic track in the main.
That theory was proven correct again by Sari Schorr here. Performing as a duo with Scott Ralph, the New Yorker’s half an hour is simple – and simply gorgeous.
Beginning with “Freedom,” the power of Schorr’s incredible voice comes through as ever, but stripped down, you sense the personal nature of the words. She makes a joke of it here, “most of my songs are about regret – if you wanna talk about regret, come and talk to me.” It makes for some superb stuff, though “Back To LA” and “Turn The Radio On” – where she sounds fragile – neatly prove her point.
She goes back to the debut for “Damn The Reason,” her study into domestic violence, and after an uplifting “Beautiful,” she ends with “Maybe I’m Amazed,” and as always, the cover suits her.
There’s something about Sari Schorr that, although she lives in Brooklyn, she’s but a heartbeat away from the West Coast and some hippy retreat. Oddly, with the usual power taken away, that’s when it becomes clearer than normal.
Kiefer Sutherland is about a third of the way through his set when it happens. He plays a song called “Something You Love,” before which he told the Coventry Empire, “I’m not the type of guy to give advice, but if I were, I’d say that life’s too short not to do something you love.”
That’s always been Sutherland’s mantra – indeed, the song he played after that was a homage to his days as a professional Rodeo Rider, “Reckless And Me” – but right from the start, when he began with the simple “1, 2, 3, 4!” before “Ole Lonely Life,” that’s the vibe here.
Here, by and large, with the same set as he played last Autumn, it’s fun to watch the crowd as a section goes from being here for a curious look to going “he’s good, you know!” And make no mistake about this, Sutherland is very good indeed, and he’s cleverly got a lot of damn good musicians with him. Ash Wilson’s guitar work is exemplary, and Roger Innes has likewise been pinched to play bass, while the rest of the band sounds wonderful.
It means a lot to him, too, as he explains the songs. “Chasing The Rain” is about touring itself, “Going Home” sees him in a bar at 12.45 am, and a set that as a result is full of nostalgia reaches its peak with “Bloor Street,” the road that shaped his life in Toronto.
If you were looking for an easy catch-all for his sound, then “blue-collar” does it. “County Jail Gates” has more than a hint of “Darkness…..” era Springsteen, and given that he covers Tom Petty’s “Ways To Be Wicked” after that, he’s not exactly hiding it.
The happy “So Full Of Love,” which the tour is named after, is infectious. “Set Me Free” has a classic country air, but the absolute pinnacle is ‘That’s How It’s Done,” which had started with a toast to the crowd.
“Down in The Hole” makes sure there’s a heavier groove to finish, but what happens in the encore is interesting. Ditching his guitar, Sutherland becomes an energetic frontman, and as he runs around in the new song “Friday Night” and the old favorite “Agave,” it not only takes on a different feel, but you understand just what this means to Sutherland himself.
Which is why – as good as this is – it means more. The lost boy has found his home and purpose in music.
