Stephanie Dosen – The Glee Club, Birmingham 24/02/08

The small town girl from Wisconsin, Stephanie Dosen, walks on stage and instantly you can see the aura that surrounds her. Whether it‘s the white 1920’s dress or the pale skin that captivates her mystic innocence, she wins the affection of the audience before she opens her mouth.

The flutter of her eyes, the quiet apologies and the plucking of strings introduced the opening lullaby ‘Somerset’. From then on the hearts of both males and females alike have melted and stay transfixed all the way through to her thank you and goodbyes. Drifting through tracks from last years debut A Lily For The Spectre, she provides an instrumental sound that, although not particularly original, is as comfortable as your favourite chair on a Sunday afternoon. It is her lyrics and voice though, that provides the individual touch. ‘Owl in the Dark’, her most nerve wracking track to perform, she informs us, draws her wide range of vocals out in harmony with the violins that are supporting her.

Miss Dosen has the potential to be a very, very big influence on the music world. Not only does she have the lyrics that allow your mind to sail off into the stars and the guitar plucking that might as well be a head massage, she also the character to suit any crowd. The Glee Club was thrown from captivated audience to laugh out loud mob in a moment with in-between song banter filling the gaps between songs whilst the band re-tuned.

The Glee Club was the first venue on a short tour of the UK, stopping at London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with support from Peter von Poehl. The variety of her performance for the Birmingham fans was created through the use of just Dosen herself with the acoustic guitar in ‘Only Getting Better’ and then adding a soft selection of drums, violin and bass in ‘This Joy’. The supporting band created some soft backing that fashioned a beautiful atmosphere in the intimate venue.

As for the lady herself, you can’t quite place your finger on whether she’s a little girl or just a little cheeky. Either way she has a numinous air that leaves all intrigued and needing to be investigated further than the words that come out of the ruby red lips. As each song drew to a close the audience’s anticipation of wanting to clap was delayed, as there was no want of the song to finish. When Dosen came back on for the encore, the groan of announcement that this would be her last song was not for the want of her to finish already, but more the want to take her home, place her next to your bed and ask her to hum ‘Like a Dream’ to you one more time as you slip into a quiet slumber.

Set List:
Somerset
Like A Dream
Vinalhaven Harbour
This Joy
Day Dreamer
Only Getting Better
Owl In The Dark
A Lily For The Spectre
By And By
Way Out
Overcome