Laurel Delivers Intimacy & Fragility In Hoxton
Published
As a big fan of Laurel I was looking forward to heading to to one of my favourite gig venues in London to see her perform. The Hoxton Bar and Kitchen has a pretty awesome set-up; great bar for pre-gig dinner and drinks and the gig space is big enough for a good sized crowd while not losing the intimacy a smaller venue provides.
This had to be the ideal setting for a singer of Laurel's stature. She’s had a huge amount of incredibly positive media coverage following the release of her single “Shells” (including Subba-Cultcha) and her voice lends itself to the intimacy of playing to smaller crowd, all of whom are in awe of her vocal talents. So the stage was set for what should have been the perfect night.
However, this wasn’t quite how it turned out. As soon as Laurel came on stage her fragility is clearly visible, it seemed to take her a few songs to build her confidence and then introduce herself. Of course this is completely understandable and doesn’t detract from her performance, the real issue was the set up of the venue's sound levels.
Laurel’s voice is magical. In fact I would go so far as to say she’s one of the best female vocalists I’ve heard in 2014, but throughout the show it was lost through being over powered by the backing sounds of her band. This wasn't her fault and I’m sure a different venue would provide a very different outcome but it does highlight just how delicate her voice is.
At the end of the show Laurel performed “Shells” and even with the above technicalities the song still delivered a phenomenally beautiful dream-like experience (much like the studio version). I’m over the moon I’ve been able to see a starlet live in the earlier part of her career as I truly believe Laurel will be going down the same route as the likes of Lorde and Birdy, soon to find stardom and become thrust into an ever growing spotlight. The question is, will she be ready for it?
Words by Mark Jennings Pictures from Middle Bop Mag