Liverpool’s vast, 11,000 capacity M&S Bank Arena will ring with the sound of Scouse troubadour, Jamie Webster, on Saturday, November 19 2022 as the singer-songwriter announces his biggest, ever live appearance.
Evoking the melodic word storms of The La’s’ Lee Mavers and accepting Shack’s Mick Head’s seal of approval, Webster’s rise is escalating at pace following his recent, jubilant lock-out at the city’s Guild Of Students.
Webster’s shows have become synonymous with Liverpool FC, with The Guardian describing him as “the semi official musician of the football club”. Webster began headlining fan affiliated appearances at UEFA Champions League final box parks in Kyiv and Madrid in 2019 to 60,000 fans. After a video of him playing the song Allez Allez Allez, his reworking of Italo disco classic L’estate sta finendo by Righeira, went viral in 2018, the song became the soundtrack to the team’s European successes under Jürgen Klopp.
Tickets for Webster’s arena debut go on general sale on Friday, October 29 2021 at 10am with a fan pre-sale two days prior for anyone pre-ordering his second album Moments. The next exciting stage in Webster’s rise follows a monumental year just gone, in which he hit the Top Ten with his debut album, We Get By and became the UK Official Folk Album Chart’s first ever number one artist.
Before the stampede for tickets, his faithful and ever-growing congregation of committed fans have been treated to Webster’s third single of the year, Davey Kane, finding the outspoken man of words and music shout for reform of the British criminal justice system.
A video for the track, soon-to-be unveiled, will feature fellow Liverpudlian leading light, the actor Jack McMullen, recently seen in BBC One drama Time. The results of a specially-arranged shoot at the city’s Bridewell Studios and directed by Kieran and Corey Riddiough promise an evocative portrayal of the track’s themes.
Of the track, Webster said:
“With the high level of crime and corruption in government and business, why are the working-class people the only ones who have to live in the shadows of their previous and, in most cases, petty crimes? Prisons in the UK have a “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality with no real effort made to change people’s situations. Davey Kane being locked in a cold and grey cell does neither him nor society any favours once he gets on the outside.”
Like the rest of the tracks from Moments, the single’s development at the legendary Rockfield Studios in the company of producer, Dave Eringa means that the message is borne on a wave of surging and emotive instrumentation.
A committed disciple of Boy Dylan and Liverpool forebears, including The La’s, Webster went into writing and recording session for his second album with them still ringing in his ears, but also taking David Byrne and the doomed bliss of Laurel Canyon’s creative heyday along for the ride. With The Mamas and The Papas and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young ringing in his ears, the musical edges of Webster’s craft were honed and softened as the words grew wings.
2021’s earlier singles Days Unknown and Going Out tore into the streaming charts on release, continuing to demonstrate the weigh of feeling for Webster amongst those in the know, and set a steady course to Moments’ release on Friday, January 28 2022.
