A short belated review of this much rescheduled gig and the last of the Covid affected gigs that’s how long ago this was supposed to happen. After a lovely creole chicken dish from the South Bank street food market we head our way into the concrete shell of the QEH. What it lacks on look inside it makes up for with probably the most comfortable seats of a London music venue. But for me it’s a soulless space. There’s a lot of empty seats scattered around the venue probably due to the multiple reschedules which doesnt help the atmosphere.
The stage setting is funky with a dozen or so light strips placed haphazardly giving off an underground disco feel. Dark and moody with those shards of bright lights searing across the room. It’s a fitting lighting arrangement that matches the music perfectly but in this room I’m not sure it works. Maybe in a small standing club venue it would be excellent but and I have said this before its difficult to generate a lively atmosphere in an all seating room and tonight exemplified this with nothing more than polite applause after each song.
This is actually the tour to support the excellent ‘The Art of Losing’ album which came out in 2021 and was definitely one of the best albums of that year. Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress is surrounded by keyboard and two large white boxes which are designed to clean and filter the air around you which is a new but welcome addition.
Right from the start though something was off with the sound. The music was a blend of samples and live instruments but I found the backing track was often overpowering the instruments and especially Davies’ excellent voice. That said, the two tracks when cellist Gillian Wood joined on stage were delightful and set closer ‘The Exchange’ was excellent too. A word for the band too who too were all very good but again maybe the lead guitar was a tad low in the mix.
So a low key evening full of good songs but with all the energy and atmosphere sucked out of the room and me thinking I should have opted for her tiny Boileroom gig in Guildford last week instead.
Keep on 80s disco rockin’ y’all
ps apologies for poor quality photos, maybe a verdict on the night a little fuzzy around the edges.