Sunday 24th August 2014.
Siobhan Mazzei.
Thornton Club.
Thornton.
Leicestershire.
by Keith Jobey
It’s nice to head out into the countryside every now and again. Take a sunny Sunday afternoon drive through green fields and wooded glades to a place of refreshment. Maybe listening to some music as you motor along. What could be nicer? I tell you what, when the artist you’re listening to is playing at the place of refreshment. Such was the case on the Bank Holiday Sunday. Thornton Club was the place of refreshment. Siobhan Mazzei was the artist.
Photo Keith Jobey
Over the past few years I’ve been catching Siobhan Mazzei in a much too casual manner, either as a supporting act, or at Oxjam performing on the street. So it was time to make amends and catch her as the main act.
We arrived just in time and got some drinks then squeezed into a line of spare seats down the side of the compact bar area where she was performing. So close that I could have joined in without having to move.
The set consisted of a mixture of covers, Siobhan’s own songs and mash-ups. The mash-ups were a treat. These being a mix of various chunks of songs put together in single song. A little like what Stars on 45 did in the 80’s. The first of these mash-ups was based upon love songs and began with an impersonation of James Blunt. This brought about much laughter from all and I’m surprised Siobhan managed to compose herself to carry on. It also set the scene for the remainder of the afternoon, a very relaxed, warm and friendly afternoon with this talented, engaging performer. Relaxed enough that Siobhan felt she could try out a cover of the Smith’s [italic]This Charming Man[italic] without any fear of humiliation should she mess it up.
After a mid-set break Siobhan returned with a Katy B cover and a new song Hurts You More. Then there was the first song she wrote at the age of thirteen White Powder, a song Amelia written about her niece, and a cover of Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me A River in which the crowd had to participate.
In the midst of all the fun and banter were Siobhan’s own songs. I think we got every song from her excellent album Waiting Awake plus a few others. Stand out songs like Ghost In A Shell, Escape and Recycled make the album well worth buying.
Announcing that she had one more song to play, most there seemed to know that her cover of Radiohead’s Creep had not been played so it had to be that. And with what seemed like the whole bar singing along the Mazzeithon came to an end… almost. There was no escape so one more mash-up was squeezed in. Then she was done. Fingers sore but crowd happy.
So we got about three hours of entertainment from Siobhan and the audience still wanted more! Did she play every song she could? I doubt it, I’m sure she has more in her repertoire. What we do know is that she certainly entertained the audience throughout her extended slot. Thanks Siobhan for a great afternoon.
Siobhan Mazzei is playing the Criterion on Saturday 6th September from 3pm until 5pm. It’s free entry so why not go see for yourself what a talent she is.
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