Joanna Newsom at the Royal Festival Hall
Roy Harper
Royal Festival Hall, 12 May 2010
There’s obviously a mutual appreciation society going on between Joanna Newsom and Roy Harper because the last time I saw her live Roy was also there playing support. He obviously hasn’t played live since then because he tells us it was Joanna who coaxed him out of retirement to play these two shows at the Royal Festival Hall, his first in three years.
Oddly, given Joanna’s endorsement of him, there are a lot of empty seats for this live return, which is a shame because both times I’ve seen him he’s been great and it’s clear how he’s inspired Newsom’s music. “You’ll hear the rust falling off” he tells us and sure enough he does forget the words to one song, the rather epic Me And My Woman, which goes off into weird and wonderful places, seeming to incorporate several songs into one. Each song comes with an interesting explanation beforehand, “I don’t mean to turn this into a philosophy workshop” he says, apologising, but I find the whole thing rather endearing. He also tells us of when he first played the Royal Festival Hall back in 1969 and a loud woman who rudely stomped to the front of the venue and exclaimed “This is bloody awful!” Clearly she didn’t have ears, much like many of the younger Newsom fans (one review I read called him “too avant-garde”, odd given Joanna’s music could be accused of exactly the same thing). He only played about six songs, including One Man Rock N’ Roll Band, Pinches Of Salt and Green Man, although a couple were over 10 minutes long, but they were beautiful, strange excursions into folk territory. Hats off to Roy Harper indeed.
When Joanna finally arrives on stage she looks positively angelic, wearing a gingham dress and her long hair swept back. After playing a sweetly, magical Jackrabbits alone on her harp (huge and golden, the effect of the pair together looks rather mystical), she invites the rest of her band on stage. Last time I saw her she played alone so it’s something of a treat to see her joined by this superb quintet including two violinists, a trombonist, a brilliantly inventive drummer and multi-instrumentalist (and arranger) Ryan Francesconi, who plays everything from the guitar and banjo to a karval.
I feel sorry for anyone who came to this show unfamiliar with the new album and expecting old favourites because it is heavy on material from Have One On Me, with eight of 12 songs she plays tonight from the album. The title track, which comes next, is absolutely sublime, with those cascading notes rising to the heavens, there’s no doubt the sound in the Royal Festival Hall is superb and Joanna’s harp fills it beautifully. Her voice has also mellowed and matured, no longer the girly acquired taste of old, she’s now inviting comparisons to Joni and Kate Bush, and while arguably a little less distinctive, it’s smoother, more haunting and feels like it suits the music better.
Swapping the harp for a grand piano (equally regal and once again making the petite Newsom look tiny), she treats us to the sweeping Easy and the elegant and playful Soft As Chalk, before returning to the harp to offer up one of the few older numbers of the night, the upbeat Book Of Right-On, featuring cute, oddball lyrics about killing her “dinner with karate”. She definitely has a sense of humour, not just in the words of her songs, but in her playful between songs banter with her band and the audience. At one point, pausing to tune her harp (obviously a complicated affair that takes about 10 minutes to do) she invites the audience to ask the band questions and there’s an amusing to-and-froing of jokes. Although this was met with much laughter and was enjoyable enough, it did break the spell a little.
I was thankful she played one of my favourite tracks from the new album, the rollicking Good Intentions Paving Company, which saw her return to the piano once more and felt like a real band coming together and enjoying each other’s playing. On the whole though, it was when Joanna’s fingers ran over her harp that she won my heart, particularly on a gorgeous rendition of In California and one of Ys’s masterpieces, the soaring Emily. When it ended (just one encore of Baby Birch) I looked at my watch and saw she had played for over two hours, I was shocked because, despite the length of some of the songs, the show had just flown by. Not one moment dragged and there were times I closed my eyes and felt the music rise to the rafters and I got chills. Joanna’s music can transport you and even in a crowded venue that happened tonight. A truly magical show.
Oddly, given Joanna’s endorsement of him, there are a lot of empty seats for this live return, which is a shame because both times I’ve seen him he’s been great and it’s clear how he’s inspired Newsom’s music. “You’ll hear the rust falling off” he tells us and sure enough he does forget the words to one song, the rather epic Me And My Woman, which goes off into weird and wonderful places, seeming to incorporate several songs into one. Each song comes with an interesting explanation beforehand, “I don’t mean to turn this into a philosophy workshop” he says, apologising, but I find the whole thing rather endearing. He also tells us of when he first played the Royal Festival Hall back in 1969 and a loud woman who rudely stomped to the front of the venue and exclaimed “This is bloody awful!” Clearly she didn’t have ears, much like many of the younger Newsom fans (one review I read called him “too avant-garde”, odd given Joanna’s music could be accused of exactly the same thing). He only played about six songs, including One Man Rock N’ Roll Band, Pinches Of Salt and Green Man, although a couple were over 10 minutes long, but they were beautiful, strange excursions into folk territory. Hats off to Roy Harper indeed.
When Joanna finally arrives on stage she looks positively angelic, wearing a gingham dress and her long hair swept back. After playing a sweetly, magical Jackrabbits alone on her harp (huge and golden, the effect of the pair together looks rather mystical), she invites the rest of her band on stage. Last time I saw her she played alone so it’s something of a treat to see her joined by this superb quintet including two violinists, a trombonist, a brilliantly inventive drummer and multi-instrumentalist (and arranger) Ryan Francesconi, who plays everything from the guitar and banjo to a karval.
I feel sorry for anyone who came to this show unfamiliar with the new album and expecting old favourites because it is heavy on material from Have One On Me, with eight of 12 songs she plays tonight from the album. The title track, which comes next, is absolutely sublime, with those cascading notes rising to the heavens, there’s no doubt the sound in the Royal Festival Hall is superb and Joanna’s harp fills it beautifully. Her voice has also mellowed and matured, no longer the girly acquired taste of old, she’s now inviting comparisons to Joni and Kate Bush, and while arguably a little less distinctive, it’s smoother, more haunting and feels like it suits the music better.
Swapping the harp for a grand piano (equally regal and once again making the petite Newsom look tiny), she treats us to the sweeping Easy and the elegant and playful Soft As Chalk, before returning to the harp to offer up one of the few older numbers of the night, the upbeat Book Of Right-On, featuring cute, oddball lyrics about killing her “dinner with karate”. She definitely has a sense of humour, not just in the words of her songs, but in her playful between songs banter with her band and the audience. At one point, pausing to tune her harp (obviously a complicated affair that takes about 10 minutes to do) she invites the audience to ask the band questions and there’s an amusing to-and-froing of jokes. Although this was met with much laughter and was enjoyable enough, it did break the spell a little.
I was thankful she played one of my favourite tracks from the new album, the rollicking Good Intentions Paving Company, which saw her return to the piano once more and felt like a real band coming together and enjoying each other’s playing. On the whole though, it was when Joanna’s fingers ran over her harp that she won my heart, particularly on a gorgeous rendition of In California and one of Ys’s masterpieces, the soaring Emily. When it ended (just one encore of Baby Birch) I looked at my watch and saw she had played for over two hours, I was shocked because, despite the length of some of the songs, the show had just flown by. Not one moment dragged and there were times I closed my eyes and felt the music rise to the rafters and I got chills. Joanna’s music can transport you and even in a crowded venue that happened tonight. A truly magical show.
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