crazybobbles

I’ve seen Laura Marling 3 times before this gig and each time they weren’t real headlines, either part of a festival or just a guest appearance playing up to 4-5 songs. This time I was able to catch her headline show at the Hoxton Bar and Grill where she’ll be playing a full setlist, supported by Six Toes and Polly Scattergood.

During the show I managed to meet up with a few photographers, one of which was Steve Asenjo who I’ve only kinda met before at the Howling Bells show (only I wasn’t too sure it was him). Another photographer I met at Owl Parliament at the Union Chapel. We had a nice chat about photography and the banes of it such as high stage and crazy lit venues, we even talked about a few gig celebrities who I’m sure most of you have met once or twice during a gig (in Lundun mind).

The support were fairly decent, I wasn’t too keen on Polly Scattergood, wasn’t really my thing. Though during the gig I did comment on the fact that their setlists were all laminated, it was either to stop people from taking them or their song order is set in stone and that’s how they roll.

At first I thought Laura was performing solo but whilst the stage was being set up I saw Marcus from Mumford & Sons on stage tuning a guitar. Laura eventually joined in and the crowd started to roar at her mighty presence (well not really, but you know). It was nicer hearing her play with additional accompaniments to the songs, the drums in particular. Certain songs like Alas I Cannot Swim felt more full with a kick drum and My Manic and  I sounded more ghostly with eerie glocks in the background. Here’s a video of her doing that (might wanna click on the thing if you wanna see it in HD)

She also showcased a few new songs, some of which were written a few days before the show. She was more chatty compared to other shows and was definitely more relaxed. I think with the company of Marcus really helped a bit, not to mention their off stage banter which Marcus joked to the audience that the people round the back were missing (most of which were talks of tuning as well as that one time where Laura accidentally slipped her capo into the audience (projectile style)).

At one point you had them talking about where people were from (Marcus did a kansas related joke based on the show’s name “we’re not in kansas”) in which I cheered when Marcus mentioned where I lived.

Here’s a video of Laura playing Alas I Cannot Swim:

Other songs she played included Ghosts, Blackberry Stone, Darkness Descends, My Manic & I, Rebecca, Drinking Alone, Mama how far I’ve come, Alpha Shallows, Hope in the Air and Rambling Man. Quite a lot of the songs were new mind. She came back for an encore and as well as playing Alas I Cannot Swim, she did a cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene.

Here’s the video, fresh and in HD

Funny thing was I took the setlist before she came back to do this and she was actually trying to find it for it bit, I eventually confessed my swifty hands and handed the setlist back to Laura (since it had the lyrics to the song). Laura wasn’t mad luckily and promised to give the setlist back after she’s finished with it The overall show was amazing, I was mucho glad I’ve finally seen her do a proper headline show, Marcus helping out was an extra bonus too.

Man loads of videos and photos!