Gig Review - Jessica Lynn - Hare and Hounds Birmingham July 2023

In a week when The Chicks played arena shows and Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel both filled London’s Hyde Park, we went back to a roots music venue in Birmingham to catch up with a band who have become friends over the years.

Although the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath is a relatively modest sized venue, it is filled with history having played host to many up-and-coming artists – Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Basement Jaxx as well as being the venue for the first ever gig by legendary Birmingham Band UB40.

Despite the main room not being concert hall sized, that doesn’t mean that the shows are small.  This was certainly the case on Thursday evening when the stage was filled by Jessica Lynn and her band, plus her two support acts – Georgia Jones and Gasoline and Matches.

Gabriella Jones opened the night with a blues infused set punctuated by her fabulous chat and banter.  Tasked with warming up the crowd, Georgia made sure that she had fulfilled her task, encouraging sing-alongs and asking us all to be loud enough to be heard in the dressing rooms.  With her easy rapport with the audience it was easy to see why she is running a new open mic night in Sutton Coldfield.

 

Gasoline and Matches were up next, recreating their headline show from Buckle and Boots.  With the addition of a saxophonist and an opening spoken introduction, Sally, Steve and the band are going from strength to strength.  With Gasoline and Matches you know you are going to see a polished, high energy, professional show.  As close friends of Jessica, they are the obvious choice for support, especially in Birmingham and they didn’t disappoint.

On the subject of support acts – Jessica selected a different opener for each of the shows in the UK, giving a platform to local artists which is great to see, and absolutely fits the friends and family feel

Jessica Lynn and her band haven’t made the trip from their New York State home to the UK since 2019, with their previous tours being cancelled because of – well, you know why!  If you haven’t seen the band in action, they are certainly a band with a difference.  As New Yorkers playing Country Music they are already outside the mainstream – something that Jess feels she shares with UK Country fans! – but they are also a family. With husband Steve on lead guitar, dad Pete on Bass, mum Victoria n keys/backing vocals and even Matthew Bauer on drums is such a long time friend (15 years!) he is considered a brother!  This close relationship is evident in how effortlessly all 5 interact, play, dance and even punch the air in absolute unity.  The enforced sabbatical wasn’t wasted time – Jessica used the time to fulfil a dream and release an album, which had great success.  Most of the show was songs from that album, all well received. 

After that enforced break, Jessica and the band have been playing shows and festivals in a range of countries across Europe.  What is evident from their social media posts is that they are seeing and making friends wherever they go – and they have played to some big crowds!

If its your first time seeing Jessica play you can expect country with a rock edge, all performed with high energy and big smiles! Jessica took a moment to reset her Fitbit to count calories, apparently the challenge was to beat the calories burned in Switzerland fuelled by the energy from the stage and the crowd There is no doubt that the whole band are having a great time – and that transfers to the audience too. The standout exception to this was Jessica taking to the stage alone, while the band joined the audience, for a haunting rendition of Stevie Nicks’ Landslide.  For the whole song there was appreciative silence from the crowd. 

It wouldn’t be a Jessica Lynn show without her hit single Roadhouse, with its signature dance – and Steve from Gasoline and Matches showing us all up with his own dance floor moves - and a very different rendition of Johnny B Goode.  This used to heavily feature “Uncle Bob” who has stepped back from touring, but the new version would have done him proud and allowed the whole band to share the spotlight, with Jessica transferring to the drums without a beat being dropped, pushing Matthew to take centre stage on maracas and Victoria showing us her own stunning vocals.

 

“One More” demanded the crowd, and one more we had – with Jessica joined on stage for an unrehearsed “Man, I feel Like a Woman” by Sally and Gabriella.  The sheer energy and fun in that song reflected the whole night, both on stage and off as we were shown that the size of a venue doesn’t affect the size of the show!

 

Come back soon Jessica!

Silverball Country attended The Hare and Hounds as guests of Jessica Lynn

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