The Academy 2, Middle Abbey Street’s diamond venue in the rough, has seen some pretty stellar performances over the last 12 months – Wild Beasts, ASIWYFA and Local Natives to name but three. Thus, if I’d been told that the whooping from tonight’s crowd put all previous mobs to shame, I’d never have imagined the artist causing all this mayhem to be a 27-year-old folk chick from Rock Island, Illinois.
“That’s never happened before!” giggles Elisabeth Maurus AKA Lissie as she pounces onto the stage, “…to walk out and have everybody start screaming!”
Barefoot and gorgeous, Lissie looks every bit the California girl on the night of her inaugural Irish show, but when she launches into her first tune, a soulful rendition of Hank Williams’ ‘Wedding Bells’, it’s a bit like hearing a cat bark. The girl’s got an instantly mesmerising voice (albeit one that will certainly feel familiar to fans of Stevie Nicks) and her vocals are so on point that I find myself scrutinising the movement of her lips, expecting to catch her in a Milli Vanilli moment.
Hollering out lyrics about pick-up trucks, skippin’ school and, of course, the mighty Mississippi, she positively growls through debut album Catching A Tiger, even treating us to the first ever live performance of album track ‘Loosen The Knot’... just not before turning to her band mates and asking: “Wait, what note is it?” At the risk of sounding like some kind of low grade Jennifer Lopez, she’s real.
The tunes themselves aren’t entirely thrilling, as Lissie’s style is not folk, rock, gospel, or country, but rather an occasionally hit and miss concoction of all four. Still, with a gutsy front lass like this, we’re entertained enough to forgive a lacklustre melody here and there.
Punchy guitar ditty ‘Cuckoo’ and heartstring-puller ‘Everywhere I Go’ sound best tonight, and supported by Eric Sullivan’s Hendrix-y riffs, Ms. Maurus takes on an oddly Elvis-like swagger, which of course, drives the punters even wilder. Squeals of “We love you, Lissie” occur between every tune – certainly not the kind of hysteria you often see in a 220-capacity venue.
Lissie may have been raised on the Big Muddy, but it’s obvious that she’s happiest right here, swilling back tequila, high-fiving the crowd and revelling in the screams. She had better get used to it.