Laura Marling at First Avenue, Minneapolis (05 May 2017)
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May 9 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
May 10 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall May 11- Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater May 13 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre May 14 – Northampton, MA @ Academy of Music May 16 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club May 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ TLA May 20 – Brooklyn NY, @ Brooklyn Steel May 21 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
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British singer/songwriter Laura Marling stopped by the historic First Avenue in Minneapolis to promote her sixth studio album Semper Femina (More Alarming Records).
Opening up the show was Los Angeles’ Valley Queen. Watching the band, you quickly realize the bandlander Natalie Carol has a great loud and commanding vocal. Some fans compared her voice to Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine).
Joining Carol to play a brief 30-min set of songs from their self-titled debut record were bassist Neil Wogensen, guitarist Shawn Morones, and drummer
Gerry Doot.
They were pretty excited to talk about their latest single ‘Stars Align’, which debut on video a few weeks before their tour and they made sure we heard the song. The video described the band, “what the past year has been for us, lots of time on the road, away from our families, working on our relationships in and outside the band.”
The song came from their recent EP Destroyer.
We’ve been following Laura Marling around since she was 16, so we’ve really watched her grow up as an artist and songwriter. She’s really mastered the craft, coming very close to some of her idols, such as Joni Mitchell.
Of all the times we’ve seen Marling, her live shows have always been quiet and sparse… but that’s okay, most fans will agree that you’re there to listen to Marling’s beautiful voice.
With the new record, Semper Femina, Marling decided she needed a full live band, featuring guitarist Simon Ribchester, bassist Nick Pini, drummer Matt Ingram, and strings/backup vocals from sisters Emma and Tamsin Topolski, to help her bring these songs to life. This was a nice change in Marling’s typical quiet songs, which fits perfectly to the album title, which was taken from Virgil’s poem ‘The Aeneid’: “Varium et mutabile semper femina”, translating roughly as “A woman is an ever fickle and changeable thing.”
To borrow Chrissie Hynde, some things change, some stay the same. Marling still dedicated the middle of her set to just her solo on acoustic guitar – playing medleys of her songs ‘Take the Night Off’, ‘I Was an Eagle’, ‘You Know’, ‘Breathe’, going back and forth, bring up reoccurring lines, and making this part of the show to run over 15 minutes. She did warn us before playing her solo set that “It’s going to be a long one, you might want to use the restroom now.”
Even though there is a full band, Marling’s music (and sensitive voice), did not really fit First Avenue. The nearly sold out show had plenty of chatterboxes taking advantage of the full bar in the back of the room. It just felt like some people were just out to have a good time on a Friday night.
Near the end of their set, a little after 11pm, Marling asked the band for facts about Minneapolis. Matt went first and volunteered that Minneapolis was “the funniest crowd we had on this tour.” Nick said that when Prince came to London, he played a show in Nick’s living room. There was a few back and forth, but Nick said it wasn’t technically his house, but a house he managed… which later Emma said that the house Nick managed, that her boyfriend rented the house that Prince played in (so they all saw Prince in a small room).
Finally, Marling told us her fact, which started off as a criticism on Americans being very “chit chatty.” Her plan was to sleep on her taxi ride to the airport, but the Uber driver talked her ears off at 5am. Her next plan was to sleep on the flight to Minneapolis, but ended up sitting next to a “chap” that talked to her the whole flight. “Sweetest lovely guy. I put him on the list. Did he make it? No?”
I couldn’t see, but based on claps and cheers, the Dinky Town resident did make it to the show.
Of course, a typical Marling show, she never does encores, as she explained for her set finale, ‘Rambling Man’.
If you’ve seen Laura Marling before, you’ll be surprise to see her on this current tour. She’s gotten more confident, more talkative, possibly more social as a result of having a full live band with her on tour.
Semper Femina is out now.
Opening up the show was Los Angeles’ Valley Queen. Watching the band, you quickly realize the bandlander Natalie Carol has a great loud and commanding vocal. Some fans compared her voice to Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine).
Joining Carol to play a brief 30-min set of songs from their self-titled debut record were bassist Neil Wogensen, guitarist Shawn Morones, and drummer
Gerry Doot.
They were pretty excited to talk about their latest single ‘Stars Align’, which debut on video a few weeks before their tour and they made sure we heard the song. The video described the band, “what the past year has been for us, lots of time on the road, away from our families, working on our relationships in and outside the band.”
The song came from their recent EP Destroyer.
We’ve been following Laura Marling around since she was 16, so we’ve really watched her grow up as an artist and songwriter. She’s really mastered the craft, coming very close to some of her idols, such as Joni Mitchell.
Of all the times we’ve seen Marling, her live shows have always been quiet and sparse… but that’s okay, most fans will agree that you’re there to listen to Marling’s beautiful voice.
With the new record, Semper Femina, Marling decided she needed a full live band, featuring guitarist Simon Ribchester, bassist Nick Pini, drummer Matt Ingram, and strings/backup vocals from sisters Emma and Tamsin Topolski, to help her bring these songs to life. This was a nice change in Marling’s typical quiet songs, which fits perfectly to the album title, which was taken from Virgil’s poem ‘The Aeneid’: “Varium et mutabile semper femina”, translating roughly as “A woman is an ever fickle and changeable thing.”
To borrow Chrissie Hynde, some things change, some stay the same. Marling still dedicated the middle of her set to just her solo on acoustic guitar – playing medleys of her songs ‘Take the Night Off’, ‘I Was an Eagle’, ‘You Know’, ‘Breathe’, going back and forth, bring up reoccurring lines, and making this part of the show to run over 15 minutes. She did warn us before playing her solo set that “It’s going to be a long one, you might want to use the restroom now.”
Even though there is a full band, Marling’s music (and sensitive voice), did not really fit First Avenue. The nearly sold out show had plenty of chatterboxes taking advantage of the full bar in the back of the room. It just felt like some people were just out to have a good time on a Friday night.
Near the end of their set, a little after 11pm, Marling asked the band for facts about Minneapolis. Matt went first and volunteered that Minneapolis was “the funniest crowd we had on this tour.” Nick said that when Prince came to London, he played a show in Nick’s living room. There was a few back and forth, but Nick said it wasn’t technically his house, but a house he managed… which later Emma said that the house Nick managed, that her boyfriend rented the house that Prince played in (so they all saw Prince in a small room).
Finally, Marling told us her fact, which started off as a criticism on Americans being very “chit chatty.” Her plan was to sleep on her taxi ride to the airport, but the Uber driver talked her ears off at 5am. Her next plan was to sleep on the flight to Minneapolis, but ended up sitting next to a “chap” that talked to her the whole flight. “Sweetest lovely guy. I put him on the list. Did he make it? No?”
I couldn’t see, but based on claps and cheers, the Dinky Town resident did make it to the show.
Of course, a typical Marling show, she never does encores, as she explained for her set finale, ‘Rambling Man’.
If you’ve seen Laura Marling before, you’ll be surprise to see her on this current tour. She’s gotten more confident, more talkative, possibly more social as a result of having a full live band with her on tour.
Semper Femina is out now.
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Valley Queen |
Setlist |
Laura Marling |
Laura Marling |
Laura Marling |
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Laura Marling at First Avenue, Minneapolis (05 May 2017) |