With AJ otherwise engaged, another solo trip to The Beaverwood on an absolutely filthy Sunday night to see the always wonderful Chantel McGregor. Last time out for me was the inaugural outing for 'The Healing (TH)' launch event at The 100 Club last May. Again, 'TH' was played in its entirety tonight, with the opening two and closing two from the album book-ending the set respectively, with the remaining four slotted between some older favourites and a bonus solo spot slap bang in the middle.

Setlist-wise, Chantel managed to keep to the first two from the order I sneaked a photo of beforehand: she managed to stick to the two quite powerful openers of 'I Will Breathe' and 'Broken Heartless Liar' from 'TH', before springing an unscheduled 'I'm No Good for You' on bandmates Thom Gardner (drums) and Colin Sutton (bass), much to Colin's apparent chagrin having not played it for a very long time. He needn't have worried, he has chops aplenty to make it up as he went along in the event of latent muscle memory failure... but kudos to both Thom and Colin with just going with whatever is thrown at them.

It was at this point it became apparent that Chantel was suffering from a pretty nasty cold or some such lurgy, which only seemed to worsen as the night went on... not that you'd have known from her singing or playing, which was as exemplary as normal. It was only the occasional sniff, nose-blow, increasingly frequent coughs or a small digression to discuss the fear of 'candles' a little later that gave it away. It's incredible how her voice managed to sound as good as it did for the entire show.

Another track from the latest album, the upbeat 'Stand On My Own' (which always puts me in mind of Dream Theater's 'Our New World' for some reason) paved the way for a couple of more seasoned tracks in 'Walk On Land' and possibly the rockiest offering of the evening 'Killing Time', both from Chantel's second album, 2015's 'Lose Control'.

Chantel decided to give Thom and Colin the chance to kill some time themselves as she decided on an impromptu solo spot. After brief consideration she asked if there were any requests. My shout for an outing of her wonderful cover of Bonnie Raitt's 'I Can't Make You Love Me' was sympathetically rejected on the grounds of voice requirements and a missing capo, but I was OK with this given the guy next to me was successful in his shout for 'Daydream', which I've been longing to hear her play for the six or seven years I've been attending her gigs (yeah I know; Johnny-come-lately newbie ☺ ). And wasn't disappointed... her working of the 1973 Robin Trower track was captivating… even though you know it's coming, the contrast of hearing Chantel's voice on this rather than that of the great James Dewar is always the most pleasant of surprises.

The solo spot continued with the brooding 'Anaesthetize', which was none the poorer for not having the strings of the already minimal 'Lose Control' recording.

These stripped back versions are a great showcase for what is, imo, a very underrated voice... it isn't just 'Daydream' that leaves you spellbound; it's anything that is offered in this raw form... it's why the Shed recordings are so compelling.

After a short break, Chantel returned on her own with capo in hand and, voice briefly rested, felt able to fulfil the request for 'I Can't Make you Love Me'. Wonderfully gorgeous. Thanks Chantel :-)

The slower pace was continued although the intensity increased enormously with another pairing from 'TH', 'Tears' (introduced as "a depressing song from new album"), and 'Echoes'. They might be relatively slowly paced, but they both pack power and with the shared themes of somehow managing to successfully work through sh*t, I think are actually more uplifting than depressing… which, coming from a natural born pessimist is quite something ☺ Chantel also suffered a broken string right at the start of the 'Echoes' solo. I can't imagine that string wasn't required in normal circumstances, but it hardly mattered - she continued without a missed note (that I heard, anyway), even after visibly wincing when she jabbed herself with the errant string whilst trying to remove it mid-solo. When describing exactly what happened at the end of the song, we were told "that right hurt".... you can take the girl out of Bradford... :-)

After a swift guitar switch, arguably the most upbeat (and possibly most positive) song from 'TH', 'Undercover', preceded the evergreen instrumental 'April', which I personally never tire of hearing and found as enthralling as ever.

The we're-not-leaving-the-stage-but-here's-the-encore set-close featured the last two tracks from 'TH', 'Truth Will Out' and the title track itself.

I think with the recorded version of 'Truth Will Out', its synth line throughout the intro and verses belies the strength of the vocal and solo at the end of the track, but tonight... just...wow. I think the last of the gas in the vocal tank was measured perfectly as the pre-solo lines were absolutely belted with clarity and power, and the solo itself... well, I had a one-word description in my notes to remind me: Petrucci-esque.

And 'The Healing' - definitely my favourite track from the album. It would take someone more knowledgeable (or trusting of ChatGPT) to say why some melodies or chord sequences just grab you emotionally... think 'Afterglow', 'Spectral Mornings', the 'Squonk'-y bit of Los Endos, that kinda area... and 'The Healing' has increasingly 'got' me in the same way... it just... does.And that's before you even get to the emotional delivery of the lyrics or their content. For my money, it's possibly the best individual track in her catalogue.

I think this was the first time I've seen Chantel and she's not played 'Eternal Dream', which has often contained the 'solo of the night' for me. But oddly I didn't miss it... nor other personal faves like 'Southern Belle' or 'Take the Power'. I am sure that these and others will be rotated in and out of the setlist as time progresses, but for now I think it is testament to the strength of The Healing (album) that some of those songs can be rested. I said in the launch event review last May that it definitely felt like a slight direction change (perhaps a veering… a slight weave) but it was still unmistakably Chantel... but better. And I stand by that... I think every song on the album is strong, and my enjoyment of them has only increased with (many) repeat listens.

Although I have to confess, I did listen to 'Eternal Dream' from 'Bury'd' on the way home :-)

Chantel, you clearly had every right to pull a sickie tonight (you're obviously made of sterner stuff than me), but I think all those at The Beaverwood were glad you didn't - thank you.


Setlist:

I Will Breathe
Broken Heatless Liar
I'm No Good for You
Stand on My Own
Walk On Land
Killing Time
Daydream (solo)
Anaesthetize (solo)

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I Can't Make you Love Me (solo)
Tears
Echoes
Undercover
April
Truth Will Out
The Healing

Review and photos: Mark C