Pearl Charles – and I hope she takes this as the compliment it’s meant as – looks like they’ve transported her here straight from Woodstock in 1969.
Her music is very much cut from the same cloth as her attire. The Rainbow over London that adorns the back of her waistcoat, is firmly over the second city for the half an hour she’s onstage.
Here, finally, to play a UK show (‘we should have been here before, damn Covid!”) She and guitarist Michael bring a ray of sunshine to the spring cold.
“Sweet Sunshine Wine” floats in on its gorgeous harmonies and “Don’t Feel Like Myself” the product, she says, of a “psychedelic journey” does likewise.
From, Joshua Tree, California, she plays a couple of new tracks, and “Does The Song Sound Familiar” is infused with the desert air.
Her last one, “Take Your Time” (“an oldie but a goodie” she smiles) is perfect for her relaxed vibe, and her first foray into the English grey, is a colourful success.
As the last song here tonight, The Wandering Hearts play “River To Cry”. It’s one of the new songs from their brilliant, just released “Mother” record. Live, it offers up quite the crescendo. And sees them singing the line “Never wanted you to see me cry. There’s no easy way to say goodbye”.
There might not be, but it doesn’t half help if you can play a closing number as well as this.
Rewind an hour in 20 minutes or so, and the band – swelled to a six piece for the live shows – had arrived on stage with “About America”, the lead cut on the aforementioned new collection. Immediately it is everything that is great about them. Expertly played, but with a smile, and perhaps even more importantly some of the most gorgeous three piece harmonies you will hear.
That has been at the, well, heart, of the Wandering Hearts for almost a decade, but what doesn’t come over on their wonderful records, is the camaraderie between them. The bond, if you will. It is unmistakable if you watch them play.
“Still Waters” Another of the best moments on “Mother” shows it again and by the time they initiate a singalong, for what is a very receptive crowd on “Wish I Could” you sense that this is the sort of night did they have missed when they’ve not been on the road.
“Feel It Too” shines a light on the innate sadness that seems to be in the lyrics, but when they play “Not Misunderstood” and Francesa “Chess” Whiffin gives a speech about the making of the record, you get a sense of how important the band is to them.
The diversity of their material really comes through in the live arena too. “Devil” which sees lead guitar man Patrick to the fore, really rocks up, but when A.J Dean takes the lead vocal on “Waiting” it totally changes the dynamic.
“Tired” (“we wrote this before we became mothers, we didn’t understand the meaning,” laughs Chess) adds a more world-weary feel, Tara Wilcox switches to keys for “Change For The Good” and “Iona” fair explodes into its chorus, before Whiffin’s Mandolin is superb on “Over My Body”.
“Hold Your Tongue” – as on the album. a real highlight – does, you imagine, come from the heart but perhaps, nothing here is as personal as “Letter To Myself”, as Wilcox, who tells the crowd she grew up around here, explains.
A superbly well-paced show manages to get raucous towards the end, with “Rattle”, “Build A Fire” and “Fire And Water” really ramping up the energy.
They return for an encore, of the rather reflective “What Fools Believe”, before the song that began this review, “River To Cry”.
Oddly though, it might not be the music -as excellent as it was -that defines this show. Rather, something Tara had said before the aforementioned “…Myself”. After telling us that she wasn’t in a happy place in her mid-20s, she added that now she was, primarily because she gets to play music with her best friends, and that was very much the atmosphere of the show this evening. There was a real warmth both on stage and off, and when you mix it with songs as good as The Wandering Hearts have got, live music is still very special.
