Photo: Matt Bramford
Laura Marling, you say? Count me in. In a church? Lovely, sign me up! On Friday 13th? Oh, go on then!
I couldn’t quite believe my ears when I heard about the fascinating Miss Marling’s church tour – it seemed too good to be true. Arriving a little late (as almost every Amelia blogger seems too) wasn’t a massive problem this time, and I found a friend of mine waving from a very subdude queue leading to the grand church entrance in the heart of London. The atendees filed in calmly and quietly, with none of the usual teenage, angst-ridden pushing and shoving. People made their way slowly to pews, even letting others pass to get in first. What on Earth was happening?
Two support bands raced through a collection of lively folk-pop tracks - Mumford & Sons and Melody & Me. Both bands are worth a mention and had been chosen to suit perfectly: it comes as no surprise, then, to learn that the first – the more mature and superior of the support acts – form together to become Marling’s band in Act II.
When it was finally Laura’s turn to grace us with her presence, the sun had set outside and an array of imposing church candles and tealights were lit in order to modify the ambience. The congregation shuffled between pews and appeared behind pillars to catch a better glimpse of the diminutive folk sensation. When she appeared at the altar, sporting a short crop, a t-shirt with a hole in and battered pumps and carrying an acoustic guitar far bigger than her, there wasn’t a sound to be heard, except for the odd creak of old wood.
Opening her set, without any formal introduction, the adorable songstress wet our appetites with the believable, bitter but beautiful ‘Shine’ – one of my personal favourites from critically acclaimed album ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’. One after another, the album tracks (and some fantastic new ones) were showcased and sounded even better than the recording, as I had anticipated. ‘My Manic and I’ and ‘Night Terror’ were performed at their rawest with nothing but a guitar and Marling’s arresting vocals, while others like ‘Tap at My Window’ benefited from the help of Mumford et al and a string quartet. My personal favourite of the evening was album title track ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’, performed with pure beauty. If you’re not aware – it’s hidden at the end of Your Only Doll. Sorry to reveal the secret, but it’s too good a track to hide.
The time flew by and it was hard to believe that we had watched this angelic creation for over an hour. I was sad not to have heard live renditions of ‘Typical’ and ‘New Romantic’ – two tracks that I first heard on a promo EP that instantly had me hooked. Frankly, Marling could have played these 2 numbers, along with ‘Knees Up Mutha Brown’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, and I might not have noticed, owed to the splendour of one of London’s finest churches, but more the enigmatic melancholy of Marling’s sensational voice.
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- Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can – Album Review
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- Owl Parliament feat. Emmy the Great, Mount Eerie, Aidan Moffat, Blue Roses – Live Review
Good gig. good report. Mine here