This has been a long anticipated and overdue return to the LRB for Stephanie who first appeared here back in 2013…
So tonight it was a case of Nashville meets London with Stephanie batting for the former on the last date of her UK tour, opening with Little White Lie from her 2020 album AUTONOMY…
Stephanie had already captured the LRB audience right here, with her delicate rendition of this great song…
“I used to be a wedding singer, but do way more funerals now”, joked Stephanie, before performing Daddy’s Disappointment, The opening track on AUTONOMY, in a set that would be filled with personal and reflective songs of a calibre that takes a special talent to compose…
“My Dad, is very proud now”, Stephanie tells us, he is often to be found in the front row of her shows…
“To continue with childhood drama”… laughs… Stephanie plays us Pretty, again on AUTONOMY
Purity Ring follows, then Filler from the 2024 HYPOCRITE album.
Mr Wonderful and Good Mother are two more great songs that deliver deep insights into the dilemmas so many people face as they go through life…
Stephanie has the room spellbound as she relates these stories in song and the applause says it all…
A quick guitar change from the Gretsch to a Fender acoustic leads to Fine from AUTONOMY and yes, Stephanie is doing fine as she tells us about her work as a Hospice volunteer with her unique ability to make dying people feel worse with all the best intentions… laughs…
Now she works with people with dementia which inspired the next song, Old Folks Home, again on the AUTONOMY album…
Back to the Gretsch guitar as Stephanie promotes the one year anniversary of her HYPOCRITE Album, performing the opening track Cover Girl…
Jasper is another great song born from observation of life in a small town, something Stephanie does so well…
Now Stephanie managed to hit the beam with her Fender, as so many artists have before her, as she sings a sincere song about insincerity, Mirror… The punch line caused a good laugh tonight… “if you don’t have anything nice to say, say it behind my back”…
Clearly Stephanie is pleased to be here as she bigs up the ‘Now legendary Rachel Croft sound check’ and says her thanks before parting with another sad song… The beautifully observed and delivered Hospital Parking… this is some of the very best songwriting you will ever hear…
That was to be the last number, but we could not let it rest there, we had to have an encore after waiting so long for Stephanie’s return to the LRB…
All The Beds I’ve Made, written with Caroline Spence is unrecorded by Stephanie but we enjoyed a rare performance tonight… That’s why we need to get to as many gigs as we can… You can find this song on Caroline’s album SPADES & ROSES from 2017.
RACHEL CROFT
On this Nashville meets London evening, it’s now time for London to show what it’s made of in the shape of Rachel Croft, this time with a full band…
MAZ HARRIS | BASS
MARIA | GUITAR
We heard the soundcheck which was legendary, so we knew the LRB audience were in for another treat tonight…
Hurricane starts the show with a blast, setting the tone, as it does on Rachel’s LIVE AT CAMDEN ASSEMBLY album from 2023… Shark Eyed Sugar, a song about someone Rachel doesn’t like, follows as on the album.
That drew some fine applause as Rachel tells us how she writes about ‘Wide Screen Life Choices and people she doesn’t like’…. Laughs… “Most people write about love, I write about vengeance” Rachel tells us as the band launch into Reap What You Sow, with the LRB audience joining in along with howls of laughter…
Rachel commands the stage with her presence and the band only add to the effect creating another lasting memory of superb LRB performances…
The first song Rachel ever recorded with the band is next after a eventful tune up and Rachel voicing her appreciation for Stephanie Lambring…
Only Dreams a song to really highlight Rachel’s vocal talents, the band leaving space for her voice to shine…
This Was Never Love & Time Waits For No Man follows… You can find them on Rachel’s two live Albums, the other being LIVE AT THE CROOKED ROOM STUDIOS.
Time Waits For No Man found it’s place on Tik Tok after doing nothing on original release on the 2021 REAP WHAT YOU SOW EP…
Over a million streams and a performance at Abbey Road Studio B followed… The lesson here is, never give up on a piece of art…
Rachel introduces the band before Martin’s drums lead into Failure, another rocker before the band sit out on the stage for Rachel’s Solo set…
MARTIN NEWBURY
Skin and Bone a song Rachel has written from another persons perspective, and which she would love to play at The Royal Albert Hall. It’s a song she is very proud of and will be a bonus track on her forthcoming vinyl release…
This was beautifully performed tonight on the legendary LRB stage but Rachel clearly has her sights set on even greater things… She deserves it all too…
Next, a song that’s not finished… Rachel looking for more ‘Bop-y’ songs. This time Rachel plays acoustic guitar on a song with no verses… You only get these treats at live gigs… Bittersweet…
It’s great to be even a small part of the writing process by giving artists the space to take risks, take chances with their art…
Now it’s time for the band to stand up and play once more, with a gentle Spanish tinted Enya inspired introduction to the haunting, Roots. A song that after the gentle beginnings, suddenly explodes with visceral, primal chants & rhythms… That went down well…
I’ll See You leads on with some audience participation which the LRB crowd are very used to excelling at… Rachel weaves her way amongst the audience to engage with everyone in the room leading the LRB choir to the very end, coaxing the very best out of us all…
Time for a cover… Rachel without a guitar to impede her movement enjoys performing Tennessee Whisky/I’d Rather Go Blind… and Wow! Does she perform it…
Rachel owns the stage and the barn as she wanders through the audience once more, living the song in a way reminiscent of Beth Hart’s legendary performance with Joe Bonamassa… That brought the house down for sure… Don’t try and categorise Rachel Croft too much… It won’t work…
Next we enjoy Mind Made Of Sky, the title song of Rachel’s latest EP.
We were once again schooled in the chorus as it is well known that if you come to the LRB, you are part of the band…
Rachel now invites us to clink glasses, bottles, plates anything to the ting at the end of the chorus on Rose Tinted… This worked well with surprisingly no breakages and a lot of fun…
It’s time for the last song as Rachel thanks everyone involved in the production, clearly happy with how everything has worked out. Graham Jackson gets a special mention for driving Rachel around and much more…
More venom now with Pacify Me… another stunning rocker embedded into the fabric of the barn, Rachel again tours the audience to the driving rhythms and well deserved applause/standing ovation…
It was never going to end here after that stunning performance. Martins Drums summoned Rachel back on stage to sing about someone else she doesn’t like… and so Rachel leaves us with the stunning Dead Horse…
Thank You Rachel Croft (and your great band) & Stephanie Lambring… Nashville and London collided tonight for sure…
As usual Simon Allen performed a superb job on the sound, extracting every last ounce off goodness from these incredible performances…
Thank you to RACHEL CROFT with her wonderfully band, Martin Newbury drums, Maz Harris bass, Maria guitar
Thank you STEPHANIE LAMBRING.
This was another fabulous evening of the highest quality to follow on from last month’s curtain raiser
Thanks to everyone involved with the production: Simon, sound engineer and Jonathan standing in for Geoff our lighting tech; The fabulous little rabbit crew of Chris on video cameras and setup, Stan on setup and artist merchandise; Lyn with artis and guest hospitality; Brian running Little Rabbit Bar and big thanks to Chris and Rebecca, Bob for assistance on the evening. Chris and Paul with takedown.
Review: Chris in progress
Video cams: Chris
Photography: Andy Sheard
Artist/guest hospitality: Lyn
Artist Merchandise: Stan
AV editing & audio mix: J ( we’ll slot in some vids soon)
Artists: Terry
Sound: Simon Allen
Lighting crew: Jonathan standing in for Geoff Lee
To all wonderful LRB guests and friends who support live music at LRB, big thanks for filling LRB full and hope to see y’all next time. Big thanks to all the new guests and all your lovely comments.
We will be ready to welcome back LAUREN HOUSLEY with THE NORTHERN COWBOYS plus BELLE ROSCOE on Saturday 31 May 2025.
Another great evening….thank you everyone for filling this evening.
Best wishes, Keep Safe & See Y’all soon
The LRB team
