Alela Diane at Shepherd's Bush Empire
Alela Diane
The Leisure Society
Laura Gibson
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 17 September 2009
Last weekend it was the End Of The Road festival, a country-friendly event that meant plenty of cool Americana and folk acts were over in the UK at the same time and most used their time in the UK wisely by playing some shows over here once the festival has finished. This was great for those of us who didn't get to go the festival except it meant that on one day in particular, Thursday 17 Sept, there was a lot of acts with similar audiences all playing the same night. The big three for me were Alela Diane, who released one of my favourite albums this year, the always superb Richmond Fontaine who I had been eager to see again and my beloved Neko Case, who, if she had announced her show first, would have no doubt taken priority for me. If they had been playing different nights I would have gone to them all but alas a decision had to be made and since Alela's show had been announced first and I already had tickets she won out, and I have to say I'm pretty glad she did because the show was superb.
When I first arrived Laura Gibson, the first support act, was already on and the place was pretty empty. But Laura, a girl in a simple white dress playing an acoustic guitar, didn't seem put off. "Thanks for coming early" she said warmly, before continuing with some deceptively pretty but sombre tales taken from her new album Beasts Of Season, and the audience, small though it was at that point, responded enthusiastically. She definitely has a beautiful voice but musically she did remind me of a lot of other folksy female singer/songwriters.
The next act, The Leisure Society, were a far more lively affair, effectively mixing British folk with a upbeat country feel. Apparently Nick Hemming used to be in a band with filmmaker Shane Meadows and actor Paddy Considine and has written scores for Meadows' films and certainly the band sounds more accomplished than most newbie acts. With flute, fiddle, cello and Fender Rhodes filling out the sound and on last number In A Matter Of Time they sound positively epic and rocking, a nice contrast to the main act in fact.
With the venue now much fuller than before, Alela, looking tinier than ever wearing a black boob-tube, skinny jeans, cowboy boots and her newly shorn short-short hair, arrives wi
th a big smile and picks up an acoustic guitar than seems much too big for her. Accompanied by her father Tom Menig on guitar and backing singer Alina Harden, she begins the show acoustically with a traditional song her dad used to sing to her, Bowling Green. In many ways it's these sparse acoustic numbers, lifted by Alina's harmonies and her father's guitar picking, that are the true showcase of her songs and her unusual lilting voice, and fits beautifully with the ageless feel of her music and its themes of myths and nature. But, that said, when the rest of the band arrives, (two dudes who in great hats that look like they should be in The Black Crowes or some cool 70s country rock act, one of which, the bassist Tom Bevitori, is Alela's fiancé) it definitely adds a little variety to the show and they are a tight unit, playing sweetly countrified versions of songs such as White As Diamonds, Every Path and My Brambles.
Although Alela tells us stories of playing Jools Holland, the difficulties of on-stage banter and life on the road, it's Tom who proves to be the most amusing, speaking in a heavy Southern drawl tells us all of getting his "ass kicked" at Nintendo soccer on the tour bus and informs us "y'all friends now", sounding like a stoned cowboy. "Tom's getting quite a reputation on blogs" Alela grins, which is true, I've read many saying he doesn't fit with the band, and while he and the drummer do look like they should be playing in some psychedelic country band somewhere, I think they help spice up what could easily be too serious and sombre.
The final few songs though are just Alela and Alina, previewing some of the songs from the forthcoming EP they made together. This includes a beautiful re-telling of the old English folk song Matty Groves and a gorgeous cover of Townes Van Zandt's Rake, managing to overcome a false start from Alina ("This is only the second time she's ever played guitar standing up!" Alela tells us laughing), proving there's still lots of good things to come from Alela Diane.
Laura Gibson
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 17 September 2009
Last weekend it was the End Of The Road festival, a country-friendly event that meant plenty of cool Americana and folk acts were over in the UK at the same time and most used their time in the UK wisely by playing some shows over here once the festival has finished. This was great for those of us who didn't get to go the festival except it meant that on one day in particular, Thursday 17 Sept, there was a lot of acts with similar audiences all playing the same night. The big three for me were Alela Diane, who released one of my favourite albums this year, the always superb Richmond Fontaine who I had been eager to see again and my beloved Neko Case, who, if she had announced her show first, would have no doubt taken priority for me. If they had been playing different nights I would have gone to them all but alas a decision had to be made and since Alela's show had been announced first and I already had tickets she won out, and I have to say I'm pretty glad she did because the show was superb.
When I first arrived Laura Gibson, the first support act, was already on and the place was pretty empty. But Laura, a girl in a simple white dress playing an acoustic guitar, didn't seem put off. "Thanks for coming early" she said warmly, before continuing with some deceptively pretty but sombre tales taken from her new album Beasts Of Season, and the audience, small though it was at that point, responded enthusiastically. She definitely has a beautiful voice but musically she did remind me of a lot of other folksy female singer/songwriters.
With the venue now much fuller than before, Alela, looking tinier than ever wearing a black boob-tube, skinny jeans, cowboy boots and her newly shorn short-short hair, arrives wi
th a big smile and picks up an acoustic guitar than seems much too big for her. Accompanied by her father Tom Menig on guitar and backing singer Alina Harden, she begins the show acoustically with a traditional song her dad used to sing to her, Bowling Green. In many ways it's these sparse acoustic numbers, lifted by Alina's harmonies and her father's guitar picking, that are the true showcase of her songs and her unusual lilting voice, and fits beautifully with the ageless feel of her music and its themes of myths and nature. But, that said, when the rest of the band arrives, (two dudes who in great hats that look like they should be in The Black Crowes or some cool 70s country rock act, one of which, the bassist Tom Bevitori, is Alela's fiancé) it definitely adds a little variety to the show and they are a tight unit, playing sweetly countrified versions of songs such as White As Diamonds, Every Path and My Brambles.Although Alela tells us stories of playing Jools Holland, the difficulties of on-stage banter and life on the road, it's Tom who proves to be the most amusing, speaking in a heavy Southern drawl tells us all of getting his "ass kicked" at Nintendo soccer on the tour bus and informs us "y'all friends now", sounding like a stoned cowboy. "Tom's getting quite a reputation on blogs" Alela grins, which is true, I've read many saying he doesn't fit with the band, and while he and the drummer do look like they should be playing in some psychedelic country band somewhere, I think they help spice up what could easily be too serious and sombre.
The final few songs though are just Alela and Alina, previewing some of the songs from the forthcoming EP they made together. This includes a beautiful re-telling of the old English folk song Matty Groves and a gorgeous cover of Townes Van Zandt's Rake, managing to overcome a false start from Alina ("This is only the second time she's ever played guitar standing up!" Alela tells us laughing), proving there's still lots of good things to come from Alela Diane.
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