To celebrate the release of her soon-to-be-released album Reel To Real, New Jersey-born guitarist Arielle makes an appearance at Marshall’s purpose built factory in Milton Keynes. An exclusive livestream event in front of lucky ticket holders, this promises to be a very special performance by a very special artist.

It’s a shame that Marshall don’t open their performance space for more live events because it’s a space that’s conducive to a great sound, and it’s one that Arielle immediately puts to great use. There’s no support band tonight, just two sets by Arielle punctuated by by a question and answer session, so we get straight down to business with the first half of the show and it’s a segment that comprises tracks from her forthcoming album Reel To Real. ‘Back To Being Bad’ is the opening shot and I’m pleased to report that it finds Arielle on good form. It sounds familiar; it’s sun kissed, and just like the Marshall amplifier it is played through, it radiates warm, golden rays. Yet it also has a freshness, as if it has just been plucked from the vine. Apparently, Arielle’s new record was recorded in double quick time and ‘Back To Being Bad’ has a sense of urgency (despite its laid back, bluesy vibe), a desire to get out in the world and make itself known.

If there’s one thing that Arielle knows, then it’s how to put a set together and after two blues based sublime cuts that soften us up, she effortlessly kicks things up a gear with the hard rocking ‘Bell-Bottoms & Bell Airs’. It’s a shift in tonality that takes many by surprise and ensures that the set ebbs and flows perfectly as we wend our way towards closer ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’. Arielle (and band) put their own stamp on this standard (which is exactly as covers should be handled) and turn it into something fresh and exciting, which are two words that best exemplify this first set.

After a brief question and answer session which find Arielle holding court on everything from recording techniques to clothing to pets, it’s back to the rock action with the second set comprising tracks from Arielle’s back catalogue. She might be short on stature, diminutive behind her trademark guitar, yet Arielle is every inch the star and stalks the stage as such. Beginning this half of the show ‘Digital World’, a track from her CD Analogue Girl In A Digital World, a title which undoubtedly sums this artist up; for those of us weaned on classic rock radio, there’s something refreshingly retro about Arielle, a sound that’s best experienced on warm, crackly vinyl and AM wavelengths. Moving with feline grace, Arielle leads the band on a set oldies and goldies, including three tracks from her ‘73 album including encore ‘Kalypso’ which brings things to a lively conclusion.

Bringing a touch of the past to the present, Arielle will ensure that the future’s never sounded so good.

• Photography by Rich Ward. Words by Peter Dennis.

Set One:

1. Back To being Bad
2. Mirror Of Life
3. Bell-Bottoms & Bell Airs
4. Stray Dog
5. Love For Yourself
6. These Boots Are Made For Walkin’

Set Two:

1. Digital World
2. This Is Our Intervention
3. Somewhere Slow
4. ‘73
5. Still A Man
6. Genie’s Outta The Bottle
7. Kalypso