Courtney Marie Andrews at Islington Assembly Hall

Courtney Marie Andrews

Brown Horse

Islington Assembly Hall, 26 February 2026

I was back yet again to the lovely Islington Assembly Hall to see the even more lovely Courtney Marie Andrews for fourth show in just four months, but this time for a full band show that was equally dreamy and sublime. It really feels like Andrews just keeps getting better and better.

It has definitely been a good time to be a Courtney Marie Andrews fan, that's for sure, especially if you live in London. At the end of last year we got that beautiful show at St Pancras Old Church, as part of a short tour that saw her playing more unique smaller venues. Then there was a surprise night of song and poetry, in support of her recently published book Love Is A Dog That Bites When It's Scared, at the unusual setting of the Sessions Arts Club, which is usually a chic restaurant, and then just last week there was the super intimate instore show at Rough Trade Denmark Street, that was even more stripped back, with Andrews playing completely acoustically to a small audience of around 50 people. I feel fortunate that I got to see them all. 

This time though was something different again because, not only was it a much bigger show, but it would see Andrews performing with her band, so we would finally get to hear her songs as they appear on her albums, which again was an exciting prospect.

I was lucky enough to again to the front (as it honestly makes such a different making a bigger show feel so much more intimate) and there really is a nice atmosphere at the Islington Assembly Hall: I'm certain it was a big part of the reason why the Jeff Tweedy show last week felt so special. 

Before we got to Andrews' much-anticipated headline spot though, the support band arrived on stage, the Norwich-based country rock band, Brown Horse. I've been hearing for a while about Brown Horse but had never actually heard their music. This show was going to be something different though, as the band is usually a big loud, more rowdy roots act, and this time they were playing a stripped down, drums free, acoustic show. 

Despite coming from the UK, they certainly looked the part of an authentic Americana band, looking like they could be playing with Gillian Welch, and it was nice to see Emma Tovell taking her place behind her pedal steel (you can never go wrong with a bit of pedal steel) and Nyle Holihan sitting down with a banjo on his lap. Rowan Braham on keys and accordion and singer/guitarist Patrick Turner, completed the line-up tonight but I'm told they are usually a six-piece (bassist Phoebe Troup and drummer Ben Auld appear to be the ones who were missing tonight).

The songs were country-tinged folk tales and quite slow and mournful, although the pedal steel definitely helped to lift them throughout. I obviously haven't heard the original versions of the tracks but they certainly were at times quite beautiful and even they mentioned some they had never played this way before, including their brand new single Twisters.

I do think I may have appreciated their set more if I had been more familiar with their material, it probably would have been quite exciting to hear them present the songs in a new way, but it has made me intrigued enough to check out their stuff, which I hear is a little more Neil Youngian in its approach (always a good thing), although I will say that the last song they played,Wreck, had a real Jason Molina vibe, which is high praise indeed. 

We knew Andrews and her band were due on stage when one of the roadies brought out a bunch of helium filled heart balloons. Her new album is called Valentine, afterall, and the little white birds perched atop all the microphones also nicely fit with the romantic aesthetic. The keyboards were also set up so that Andrews and her beau, guitarist and producer Jerry Bernhardt, were back to back when playing, adding to the romance of the night too.

Andrews emerged wearing a stylish suit adorned with brooches, her hair loose and out of the plaits for once. She took her place behind the keyboards, with the aforementioned Bernhardt, drummer Matt Carroll and bassist Taylor Zachary joining her on stage. It wasn't a huge band but once they started playing, they managed to absolutely fill the big room with beautiful sounds.

It turns out that Andrews was going to play the new record all the way through, starting, of course, with album opener, Pendulum Swing, and with its big, sweeping feel, it set the tone perfectly. There was something so satisfying know we were going to hear the new album in its entirety. It's always nice to hear old favourites but usually I'm enamoured with the latest album when I go see them live, as it definitely the case with Valentine, so it was rather wonderful to hear every one of the songs (and in the right order!) and taking on a new life in a live setting.

Andrews then strapped on her acoustic guitar for the next couple of songs, giving us Keeper, Cons & Clowns and Magic Touch, even playing a little flute on Cons & Clowns, and everyone already sounded like a classic, in fact all the way through these songs I kept thinking how crazy it is just how strong the first half of the album is really.  

She then moved back behind the keys, this time with Bernhardt (back to back as I described earlier), for the poignant and dreamy, Little Picture Of A Butterfly. Before the show in the queue, we were reading Andrews' latest Substack post where she wrote about the writing of the album and how she was listening to music by Julee Cruise (notably Outsider and I think this one too), and there is definitely a more lush, ethereal feel to some of the tracks, with the use of synths and flute. Apparently she was also influenced by Fleetwood Mac's Tusk (my favourite album!), and indeed two songs from that record play before the show, and that certainly tracks too, as much of that album has the same otherworldly atmosphere. Live though, it really showcases that element to the sound of Valentine, the spaciness and dreamlike quality working well in the old building where she's playing.

After this (the end of side one on the record) she recites a poem from her latest tome, called They Say Its Summer, and again this works beautifully as this time its backed by this gorgeous swirling music, which effectively helps the feel of the poem. I can actually imagine how lovely a whole spoken word album of Courtney's poems backed by her instrumental music might be.

Returning to the second half of the record, we get the heartbreaking Outsider and then Andrews moves to other side of the stage to take up Bernhardt's semi-acoustic Gibson guitar, to rock out on the 70s groove of Everybody Wants To Feel Like You. It's interesting to see how deft she on the guitar, particularly the guitar solo, which she handles skillfully. Whether its guitar, piano or flute (something she has only just taken up again for the first time since her schooldays), its clear she's just a fantastic musician and that's not even mentioning her dazzling vocal prowess that has earned her comparisons to another of my favourites, Linda Ronstadt.

After playing the album through (ending of course on the slow-building and soulful Hangman), she then treats us all to favourites from her back catalogue such as Irene, Break The Spell, Burlap String, These Are The Good Old Days and the unreleased, You Left Me Standing In The Rain, which she has been regularly playing at shows these days and hopefully will make it onto the next album.

Of course, Near You is once again a standout of the set. It never fails to give me chills and the way it builds always reminds me at Neil Young at his absolute best. It was nice to hear it acoustically at recent shows but fully electric is where Near You shines best and it's still incredible to think she wrote this perfect song when she was just 19 years old.

If I Told ended the main set, with Andrews adding in another reading of the poem, Come Visit, before exiting the stage. It was clear though that there would be an encore, with the crowd cheering for more and indeed Andrews did return, alone at first, to give us a couple more tunes. Someone in the audience yelled for Table For One and she laughed and joked "it's coming! It will be a Table For 800, I promise!"

She then gave us a stunning and haunting version of Rookie Dreaming, all alone on the stage, but you'd hardly notice, she was so hypnotic. The band then returned and made good on the promise of Table For One, ending the show.

This was just a wonderful, uplifting show. Even though many of Andrews' songs are sad and her voice is often emotional and full of heartbreak, her words are also hopeful and radiate love and good feeling. It's hard not to fall in love with her music and be captured by the spell she casts. Plus, Valentine may well be her best album yet and it was a pure pleasure to hear it live in full. As an artist, it's clear that Andrews just keeps getting better and this show surely proved that.