Nick Harper @ The Masque Theatre, Liverpool

Nick Harper graced the Masque Theatre armed with only his guitar, a microphone and a box to rest his beers on, but this is enough for the son of legend Roy Harper and the for the avid crowd that had gathered. Being the son of a legend must be hard, but Nick has forged his own inevitable style and with albums like "Treasure Island" and "Smithereens" under his belt he seems to be doing just fine.

Covering an abundance of songs from past albums this was more of a relaxed affair as opposed to a scripted set.Taking suggestions from the crowd as to what songs he should play, Nick seemed to be in a jovial mood even at times having to reject suggestions due to not really remembering the full song. Aside from this, the songs he did remember definitely got the approval of the audience.

Onlookers watched in awe as Nick's fingers plucked and strummed for all their worth. Chord key changes being made to look seemingly easy and his voice wailing out above the notes. The fact that this man can sing and play the guitar in the way that he does is an eye opener in itself.

The only grievance I have is that the set seemed to go on for far too long and at times my interest was lost. That's in no way a scorn on Nick himself, I just felt the set could have been a little shorter. Though I must admit that the inevitable encore made up for that with a crowd pleasing rendition of Frank Zappa's "Titties and Beer" in which Nick got the chance to plug his CDs for sale in the voice of Satan. If you think Tenacious D's "Beelzeboss" is the original musician vs devil song then you obviously haven't heard Zappa's rendition and Nicks' satirical take on it.

After watching Nick, his guitar, microphone and box to rest his beers on, you are in no doubt that the son of Roy Harper has truly stepped out from his shadow and become a legend in his own right.

http://www.harperspace.com/