Halfway through her UK tour, and a day after our major feature was published, Alexanders in Chester could well be the Grotto to Eleanor McEvoy’s Greatness. A favourite venue certainly since the early millennium. Catching up for a chat pre-gig Eleanor is both personable and empathic which shouldn’t surprise followers of her music.

It’s maybe that Lockdown has contributed to a more reflective approach. As she told me her mission now, more than ever, is to leave the audience feeling suitably uplifted when they leave her gig. And it really didn’t take too long to feel good about the music.

Her current album ‘Gimme Some Wine’ is a product of the pandemic but also about a relationship gone sour after 23 years. Eleanor has been careful to avoid the morbid and vitriolic but one wonders going forward whether it will put new fire in her creative muse.

One of the album standouts is a tale of what might have been and a chance meeting with an old flame in Dublin’s ‘South Anne Street’ whilst ‘Found Out By Fate’ is perhaps tempered by her co-writer Paul Brady.

To be honest I heard most of the new tracks for the first time as for some reason GRTR! never received the album for review or airplay. This probably says more about the pitfalls of self promotion and sometimes things drop off the edge. Eleanor has been steadfastly independent for two decades.

The first half was mostly given over to the new album but punctuated by the spritely ‘Get Lucky’(A Daft Punk cover inspired by her daughter) and ‘Survival’ both given added heft by a drum machine. The latter drew an audience comment “a Leonard Cohen special”.

Thankfully the mood was immediately lifted by her take on The Pointer Sisters ‘Slow Hand’ a highlight of her live set since 2017 and featured on ‘Forgotten Dreams’.

The second half may have been the opportunity to plunder her enviable back catalogue but a couple more originals jostled with several more covers including the still relevant ‘Eve Of Destruction’ which followed a poignant delivery of the Ukranian national anthem on fiddle. And her take on Edith Piaf’s ‘Milord’ did demonstrate her consummate versatility whilst being wholly appropriate in a jazz/cabaret club setting.

Avid Eleanor watchers may argue that she has enough “good stuff” (like second half opener ‘Sophie’) not to rely on covers but in truth they have been a significant feature of both her live sets and albums over the years. And she does add her own twist.

As expected she rallied with her calling card ‘Only A Woman’s Heart’ inviting a somewhat restrained Chester crowd to sing the melody whilst she harmonised.

It was as ever a fitting way to round off an infectious and intimate evening.

Stepping out into the Cheshire cold, the faithful would have reflected that at least for a while – basking in the audio afterglow – they had been uplifted.

Review and photos by David Randall

The Best of 2023

David Randall interviewed Eleanor before the gig on 2 March and chatted about her life and music since their last meeting in June 2008. She is a Featured Artist at Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, mainly featured in the singer songwriter sequence (Mon-Fri 14:00-16:00 GMT), and throughout the month of March 2023 more of her tracks will be added to the station’s general playlists.

Special Feature (GRTR@20)

UK TOUR 2023
Saturday 4 March Old Cinema Launderette, Durham
Sunday 5 March The Crescent, York
Monday 6 March Folk Club, Stirling
Tuesday 7 March Glad Cafe, Glasgow
Wednesday 8 March Greystones, Sheffield
Thursday 9 March MET Arts Centre, Bury
Friday 10 March The Rope Walk, Barton
Saturday 11 March Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

IRISH TOUR 2023
Friday 24 March St Augustine’s Church, Derry
Saturday 25 March The Oriel Centre, Dundalk
Thursday 30 March The Red Hot Music Club, Kilcullen
Friday 31 March The Venue, Ratoath
Saturday 15 April An Taibhdhearl, Galway
Thursday 27 April Bob’s Hideout, Durrow, Co Laois
Saturday 29th April, Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)