What a great privilege to attend the 2013 Threshold Festival yesterday at Camp and Furnace -the Baltic triangle. It was an extraordinary celebration of Liverpool’s Grass roots. SOUL Inspired events presented a raft of talented artists at Camp and Furnace’s main stage from mid afternoon until the early hours.
At 7:20, the captivated audience were treated to an acoustic set by Liverpool rapper Jamie Broad - the thinking man’s rapper. He wowed the stage with his sharp, lyrical delivery. His high energy and exuberance set the bar for the acts that followed. His song about pigeons challenged the stereotypes about beauty and aesthetic bias. Jamie handed out copies of his album “A nice cup of tea” which came with a free tea bag to excited fans at the end of his set.
At 7:50, the stage was graced with the presence of Amique - talented singer, writer, composer and producer. His deeply soulful vocal filled the room and mesmerized the audience. Tosin provided accompaniment on guitar.The rawness and depth to the lyrical content was both inspiring and moving. Songs such as Peaches and U will know were met with rapturous applause. Amique is a perfect example of how powerful and evocative music can be.
Before the audience could pause for breath, Coffee and Cake for funerals made their way onto centre stage. The four piece Liverpool collective commanded the stage and delivered a stirling performance. It was a set full of heavy bass lines and soulful vibes that left the audience nodding their heads and shouting for more.
At 9:20, LA based US artist & Soul4Soul affilliate JC Villafan made an appearance on centre stage accompanied by his guitar and backing singers. The audience were
Immediately endeared to the unassuming artist, he urged them to come closer and in return he offered his audience deeply soulful lyrics which captivated them and had them singing along in harmony. JC directed the men and then the women to accompany him, resulting in beautiful melodic tones filling the room. The power in his voice and the 3 dimensional depth and quality to of it was received appreciatively and acknowledged by the crowd by whoops and hollers. “I’m just a Mexican boy trying to sing soul music” he confessed. His self-effacing humility and the sincerity of his delivery connected him to the audience even more.
The crowd were well and truly hyped and ready for the headline act. The preceding acts had set the stage. Liverpool’s finest, Esco Williams made a grand entrance to the beautiful instrumentals & melody of “Day one” courtesy of his band the Kontrollers. BV’s were provided by the talented Jasmine Joel and Janiece Myers. Esco welcomed his audience and with the words “Let’s do this” proceeded to tear the house down. Singing classics such as “I want you more”, “Hi-Score” “New Challenger” Esco gave his screaming audience exactly what they came to see. His twist on Estelle’s American boy rephrasing it to “Liverpool girl” saw the audience participation reach a crescendo. With his new offering “un-named song” Esco served up a fusion of old school funk and new school vibes much to the delight of the crowd who were dancing their proverbial socks off. Esco is an amiable character who values each of his fans- the TeamEsco collective. He did not disappoint last night and pleased oldest fans whilst acquiring new ones. His set truly was the piece de resistance. If you did not know him before, now you know. I salute Threshold Festival and SOUL inspired events for serving up such a musical feast to it’s music hungry clients. A job well done and a city to be proud of #Liverpool #EscoWilliams #Thresh13 #SoulInspiredEvents #Amique #JamieBroad #JCVillafan #Threshold #GrassRoots #Music #2013 #Camp&Furnace