It’s under a year since Larkin Poe took home a prestigious Grammy Award for best Contemporary Blues Album with ‘Blood Harmony’. Little more than a couple of weeks since they appeared with Ringo Starr and played live on the Jimmy Kimmel Show on US television. Mere days ago they were on the legendary Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville. Today (27 Jan) they’re appearing on a tiny stage at Xperion (behind the Saturn store) in Cologne, in front of maybe a hundred invited guests. “Why?” I asked Rebecca (the dark haired of the talented sisters). “Because we like meeting people!”.

It’s 5:30 pm and there’s already a small queue at the entrance door when I arrive. There have been similar appearances by Peter Maffay and Doro Pesch I’m told, but no one around me has been to an event at Xperion before. The venue is primarily an offshoot of the Saturn Superstore at Hansaring. Its entrance has a bright orange light around it and the inside shop hall has been furnished with some thought and cost to look inviting. In comparison, I’ve just come across the road from the former Saturn superstore. It was here, and eleven years ago now, that Grimsby’s finest Rockband The Brew appeared on a suspended stage, surrounded by CD’s and records. In 2025 though it looks more like a house where burglars broke in, stole anything of any worth, and left the rest. Sad.

Clearly, Judging by the better furnishing of Xperion,Gaming is where the entertainment tech money is these days. This afternoon it’s also where the music is. There are large screens everywhere as we enter the backroom area. All showing Lovell sister videos on technicolour time-loops, and all curiously with sound turned off. There’s a small and sparsely lit stage in front of which are tiers of wooden seating – well actually, just stair-like blocks leading upwards. This has to have been built for young bottoms. I go from hoping that the show will be a long one to hoping it won’t be too long…

On the stroke of 6 pm Megan, Rebecca and their band appear to loud applause. Dressed in vibrant matching floral trousers very possibly created by Megan herself, the duo themselves are feeling less than vibrant. They are, says Rebecca, still jet-lagged from flying in from the States and clearly the adrenalin rush of a day of interviews has worn off. Do they look tired? Yes. Do they look like they want to play music? Yes to that too. It’s one of the reasons Larkin Poe are a favourite band of mine. They clearly love making music together.

The sisters are here to promote their latest disc release. If you were at Kunst!Rasen last year then you will already have got a sample – ‘Bluephoria’ and ‘If God is a Woman (The Devil is too)’ were both played in Bonn and again this evening. Other tracks were unfamiliar, but convinced me that this release is as strong as anything they have released before. The concert opener ‘Bluephoria’ has one of those kick-ass openings that stick in your head the way great rocksongs do. The same is true of ‘Easy Love’. It’s great to hear Megan Lovell putting lap steel guitar back up there as a lead instrument on a rock song. ‘Bloom’ is the name of their new album and it’s very possibly their best release yet in terms of musical breadth. ‘Just a Little Bit’ could get them a Grammy award again this year, but this time as best Country song.

This isn’t an album review though so let’s get back to the Xperion… The bright screen behind the band is a little too large and too close for my eyes. It radiates a floral motif to match those flower powered trousers, but it glares in our faces, and makes the sparsely-lit musicians into shadows at times. Best really to just close your eyes and enjoy the music of Larkin Poe amidst the luxury of a house-party atmosphere. A good sized chunk of ‘Bloom’ is actually presented, and the set was in fact, at around an hour, pretty much the length we got at Kunst!Rasen – and for free. For free? Well, it was actually a thinly disguised ‘Meet & Greet’ event, and they are not free of course. Queue up in a snaking line as if you’re going through airport customs, and instead of having your bags checked you will first need to buy a CD or disc if you want autographs. “But I don’t have either a CD or record player!” came a voice from the man ahead of me. Not an uncommon situation in these days of Spotify downloads. Well, he will now have a pristine and signed yellow vinyl copy of ‘Bloom’ that will gain in value through being unplayed.

I do have a CD player at home – but I bought a vinyl anyway. If you’re getting signatures then get something big enough to frame was my thinking. Buying a CD is actually fair enough. The concert was a good one, of reasonable length, and free. As with Bonn Folk Club and indeed any free concert – I feel that if you hear good music from a musician for nothing, then the least you can do is put some money in the hat – or buy a CD.

The well-oiled marketing machine continues. After picking up your autograph medium of choice, a gentleman takes pictures of the meet on your phone while you chat with the ladies. Megan and Rebecca are a joy to chat to I might add. I would go crazy trying to make small talk, however brief, with a long row of total strangers. Kudos ladies! It’s understandable then that there is of course a queue, and after your allotted c.two minutes you are holding it up. Not the fault of Rebecca and Megan but more the venue arrangements I suspect. I will never take those casual and stress free chats with musicians after gigs at The Harmonie for granted again!

So what did I come away with at the end of it all (besides a signed copy of ‘Bloom’, a picture with the ladies of Larkin Poe and a sore bottom from the seating)? A head full of great songs and riffs, the chance to see one of my favourite bands play a live set, and the sure knowledge that such a concert with these girls on their current skies-the-limit trajectory is unlikely to come my way again.

Larkin Poe are appearing on 26 October at E-Werk in Cologne. The set will be longer and the audience bigger for sure. My advice is to get a ticket in good time – They’ve sold like hot-cakes in the past! TICKET DETAILS