The astute amongst you will notice that I haven’t got any
better at blogging weekly. I am really sorry. All I can say is that London is
full of lots of bright lights and I am easily distracted...oh look shiny thing!
One of the wonderful distractions of the big smoke is gig venues. Last Tuesday
I went to The Borderline to watch Luke
Leighfield and Jose Vanders; here’s what I thought.
I first saw Jose play at Jesus College May Ball in Summer
2008. My feet had been really hurting from wearing stupidly high heels for an
all-night party; and come midnight I was resting my feet in the bar. In the bar
a petite singer with a much larger voice was playing her original tunes about
waiting at railway stations and going to the fair with a boy she loved. The
combination of beautiful melody and silly lyrics about ordinary events reminded
me of the songs my best friend Lizzie used to write when we were teenagers.
Although the most memorable part of Jose's gig was her begging for a pint before
the end of her set, I enjoyed it enough to buy her EP (Transactional Language) several days later.
So three years later she offered her fans cheap tickets to
see her at a London venue, on a day I could do and I was there! The Borderline is a basement venue in Soho
that is well suited to bands with few performers (the stage is quite small) and
for intimate gigs (I reckon there were 150 -200 of us there). Playing a small
venue was actually really beneficial for the audience as we could see all the
facial expressions and the little details Leighfield and Vanders throw in. It
provided quite a different atmosphere to other gigs that I've attended.
I actually went to this gig on my own but it really wasn’t a
problem. They’re a nice crowd at The
Borderline and Vanders’ voice quickly picks you up and wheels you away far beyond
the venue. She played a great set with a combination of the old greats, ‘Puppets’
and ‘Faces Going Places’; the latter, where she played piano and provided the ‘clap’
percussion simultaneously, being very
impressive. She also played the playlist from her Blue Notes EP and ‘Man on
Wire’. It was really interesting to see how Vanders’ music has developed; she
still writes about break ups, romance and other frivolity, but she’s also
developing a more mature edge to her lyrics which deal with big issues; I liked
that. The poetic language is still there too, ‘I’m like the sun without the
shine, a long road without any signs’ (Me
Without a You) and you know how I enjoy unusual similes! (cf my post on Mornings in Jenin). She also owned the night really well; the personal touch of understanding the context of her lyrics gave
them a new depth of meaning.
Jose was the reason I went to the gig but she was well
complemented by both Luke Leighfield and Marcel Legan. Jose and Luke have just
released a split EP which is the basis for their tour. I’ll admit I had not
researched either of the other artists before I went; but Luke’s music was
really uplifting. He played the set preceding Jose’s which I caught almost by
accident. He sounds a bit like Get Cape Wear Cape Fly crossed with the Rend
Collective (make up your own mind here) both in his love for brass to
complement more traditional instruments and big chorus lines; all used to
address everything from romance to loneliness, hope and despair.
I bought Luke's latest album and the EP of Marcel Legan. On the
night Marcel provided backing vocals and guitar for both artists but he is also an artist in his own right. I bought his EP because his vocal on the
other artists’ tracks (such as Metal Detector)
was sensational. His voice sent shivers down my spine; and I was unsurprised to
find that several of my friends, of both genders, had serious crushes on him;
that voice is magic! Real Gone reviewed
his EP and said ‘those great moments only really present themselves after two
or three listens’. I agree that the EP is not ‘instant gratification’ but as it
has played on my MP3 this last week it has grown exponentially on me.
All three artists write about lying in bed, amongst other
things, anyone would think they were students (!). They also do a good line in
quirky videos (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slBDsoQH9kM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUhT1sDvJs for reference). Their coming together for the split EP
has definitely been good for the UK music scene. If you remain unconvinced can
I encourage you to check out their cover of Bon Iver, Blindsided. It is hauntingly beautiful, and has a gorgeous backdrop
of London at night; a very fitting tribute to another great band. Jose and Luke
are currently touring Europe with their split EP but you can still check ‘em
out online!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCN5yxFI7wc
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