The Staves - Goosebumps Alert!
The Staves, if you didn’t know them already are 3 sisters from Watford whose voices blend together like the finest silk, and having released one of the best albums this year in the Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) produced ‘If I Was’.
This is the 2nd tour of the album, bigger venues and fresh from the summer festival circuit and last month supporting Flo and the Machine at the ernomodome circuit in the UK. Tonight we are on steady ground at Leeds Beckett University, a good mid-sized venue and its full to the brim with eager people of all age groups.
Such is the attraction of the sublime vocals of Emily, Jessica and Camilla that we have a general "husssssh..." around the room as the show starts with ‘Hopeless’ such a gentle understated opener. I’ve been to many shows recently where the incessant backtalk destroys the calm ambience, but here, there was much more respect and a feeling of excited anticipation that halted the gossip mid chat when the lights dimmed. The respect this audience has for these 3 sisters means that they received almost complete silence apart from one whooping gent, who either didn’t get the brief, or has concert etiquette tourettes and can’t resist it, Camilla loved that though and there’s frequent banter between the songs throughout.
They stand equally apart, dividing the stage into 3 and each has a further backing band member in the shadows behind providing the additional keys, drums, bass plus a violinist and it turns out that these other band members were mostly their mates from Liverpool University.
We get a big chunk of the latest album as you would expect and its ‘Steady’ next with its up beat chorus, neatly followed and surprisingly with ‘Black and White’ one of the stand out tracks from ‘If I Was’, the girls not saving that one back for later.
‘Blood I Bled’ is next and Emily punctuates the rhythm with some additional enthusiastic bass tom banging, and this makes way for a highlight for me ‘No Me No You No More’. This song is a goosebumps inducing track that starts with one single hurtful vocal from Jessica, "How can you tell me that you don't love me like you did before?". Clever use of a vocal loop ensures that the Staves can manipulate the layers and produce ever inspiring ranges of exquisite harmonies as they stand around a single microphone. Its just perfect.
The Staves are no stranger to the odd cover version and whilst we didn’t get the recent ‘I’m on Fire’ Springsteen track, we get a fun stripped back version of Bombay Bicycle Club’s ‘Feel’. Jessica didn’t stop there though, she explained that having played the next song so many times you could actually fit any lyrics to it, proving this by jokingly playing a medley selection of Rhianna, S Club 7 and Destinys Child tracks.
The time went by so quickly and before you knew it they had finished ‘Damn it All’ and it was time for the encore. Time for a new track and Camilla joked that its not very radio friendly, as they sang what sounded like a folky protest song called ‘Tired as Fuck’, following that perhaps more predictably with ‘Teeth White’, frequently heard on the radio !
There is a popular myth around sibling vocals being able to mesh together better and many examples around with First Aid Kit leading the current sisterly charge, its probably more likely that they have just had years of singing together, perfecting the harmonies around the kitchen table. The Staveley-Taylor brood are a trio of both beauty and harmonious melody, pitch perfect and crystal clear, no zits!.
There are a handful of dates left on this tour before they play London’s Camden Roundhouse on Nov 9th, don’t miss it !
Anyone got a cure for goosebumps? I’ve still got them 3 days later.
