Liverpool Masque Venue 31/08/02

Witness went on just after midnight, I think...first up was the song I know as "the Creator one", followed by a new one and another I didn't at first recognize; there seemed to be some difficulty with the sound but by the fourth song all was well...I wouldn't bother with the masque venue again, only because it's in a nasty area (though the crowd was *very* peaceful and happy) and all stairs...in no order, they did songs from 'the blue one', numbers 5,6,7 definitely, and from 'the brown one', my boat (yay!) and pushchair (last one), plus others which I'll look up later, unless someone efficient has a proper set list with real titles...never stay at the grubby moat house and the masque serves Smirnoff ice with a *straw*!...the set got better and better as it progressed and finished at around 20 to 1 - if there was an encore, I didn't see it, I left when the tech lady began coiling wire...no 'still'...*and* it was the first time I've ever been out alone at night *in my life*, my parents are shocked, my mum disapproves... it was joyous.

leece

Short review from the Guardian:

For all the day's allusions to the American midwest, however, Americana One is predominantly about taking the spirit of country and forging it into something new - something Wigan four-piece Witness have been doing
successfully since 1998. Sounding like distant British cousins of REM, they play a brand of countrified indie that veers from smouldering acoustic folk to stadium rock. Their 45-minute headline set perfectly encapsulates all
that can be great about homegrown alt.country.

Setlist:

Warning Song
Numbers
"C"
My Boat
So Far Gone
Hijacker
Own Old Song
Cause and Effect
Invention
Pushchair