Seth Lakeman Supported by Delta Maid

Friday was my first visit to the Liquid Rooms since its grand reopening in the heart of summer and I was relieved that it had lost none of its original appeal and atmosphere. Before that awful night when the venue was destroyed by fire a couple of years ago Liquid Rooms was one of the finest live music venues in the city and on the evidence of Seth Lakeman’s gig it will soon be again.


On his current tour the striking Delta Maid, whose voice can easily be described as multi layered, is supporting Mr Lakeman. Delta is a Liverpool based songster whose desire and passion for singing the blues is a breath of fresh air in this age of manufactured pop and generic female singers. Delta is a different breed and stands out from her peers by doing something truly different with her roots based music and blues inspired acoustic rhythms.

“Broken Branches” from the EP of the same name is a song that gets the body moving and generated one of the best responses for a support act I have ever seen. If I were to pick one track to hunt out though I would be aiming for “Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag You Down”. It’s strong rifts and emotive lyrics would sit well in any iTunes library of taste.

Mr Lakeman didn’t disappoint either when it was his turn to take centre stage either. It is clear why he is at the top of the Folk/Country world. He inspired the crowd into a foot stomping crazy and allowed the music to flow and create a sense of warmth among the crowd on a cold Edinburgh night. Whilst I hadn’t listened to his new album in as much depth as I had his previous material I was relived that Seth didn’t shy away from some of his more known pieces.

Delta Maid and Seth Lakeman were a great return to a venue that is surely one of the finest for live music in Edinburgh, if not Scotland.

CR