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A Sold-Out, Intimate Evening with Lissie (w/ Cat Clyde, Hannah Ashcroft) at Leeds Wardrobe [Photos]

Singer-songwriter Lissie returns to Leeds to support her new album ‘Carving Canyons’. Check out the photos and review here.

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Lissie live at Leeds Wardrobe by Graham Finney Photography

Joining the tour, Lissie has brought with her quirky folk/blues singer Cat Clyde, while opening the night is young singer-songwriter Hannah Ashcroft who not only resides just down the M62 “somewhere between Liverpool and Manchester” but also doubles up as a backing singer for the headliner.

Coming across slightly shy on stage, as soon as she starts to perform her songs, really comes into her own so much so that, as “Amoeba” brings the set to a close, you’re left wishing she’d have had time for a few more numbers.

Canadian singer-songwriter Cat Clyde is a different kettle of fish altogether but equally as enchanting. Part of that is down to her quirky stage presence, while the rest of it is down to the fact that she has a rich and varied catalogue of songs to pick from. From folk rock to country to blues, Clyde has mastered them all.

Promoting her recently released new album Down Rounder the likes of “Mama Said,” “Papa Took My Totems,” and “Eternity” are utterly mesmerizing and, as with Ashcroft before her, following set-closer “The River,” the Canadian’s time on stage was over way too soon.

American singer-songwriter Lissie is a firm favourite in Leeds, as this sold-out show in the intimate surroundings of the Wardrobe demonstrates. Having spent part of the afternoon meeting fans during an intimate in-store in the city, Lissie is ready to perform a selection of tracks from her new album, Carving Canyons, to this roomful of fans.

Getting straight down to business as she kicks off her set with “Unravel,” the opening track from Carving Canyons, the singer-songwriter is about to show Leeds an unforgettable night. Blending folk, indie-pop and country together, both “Sleepwalking” and “Flowers” have the room singing along en masse.

Slipping in a snippet of Kate Bush’s hit “Running Up That Hill,” during “Don’t You Give Up On Me,” listening to her voice demonstrates exactly why names like Sheryl Crow are bandied about when the conversation turns to the headliner.

Dipping back into her new album for the title track and “Sad,” Lissie takes time out to explain to the audience the tough times she faced during the recording of the album. Through it all, though, the singer explains how time is a healer, and there is hope for everyone. It’s this positive take on what has been a brutal few years for everyone, including the American, which creates that special bond Lissie has with her fans.

Delving back through her catalogue, which stretches back over ten years, gigs like this one show why her inspirational stories and equally inspirational songs feel right at home in intimate surroundings like this one as the singer-songwriter sent her fans home having made sure they had experienced a night they would not forget.

I have an unhealthy obsession with bad horror movies, the song Wanted Dead Or Alive and crap British game shows. I do this not because of the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle it affords me but more because it gives me an excuse to listen to bands that sound like hippos mating.

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