Report: Rockfeedback @ iTunes Festival Night 19 Bat For Lashes, 19/7/09
4/5
By: Dickon Stone
Visit iTunes on Facebook here - still lots of free tickets to be won!
This year, Rockfeedback is delighted to be the official blog partner for the rather exciting iTunes Festival, taking place at London’s Roundhouse every night in July. Over the course of the festival, we’ll not be missing a night, delivering morning-after reports on everyone from Oasis and Bloc Party to Franz Ferdinand and Kasabian playing intimate sets to fans lucky enough to have won tickets to the shows.
Tonight, I sat in the gallery of The Roundhouse for the first time; the view was spectacular; all those underagers teaming forward in surges to get as close to the stage as possible, it was like the final seconds of a near-end level of Age of Empires or something…then all of a sudden any scent of shoving dissipated as the band appeared.
Considering her first album was titled Fur and Gold it was interesting to note that there was a predominance of silver on Bat For Lashes’ stage; balloons, semi-spheres of disco balls spinning on the ground, with a single coloured throw covering the meagre entrails of a keyboard stage left and a deer head upstage centre that was plonked so peculiarly that it almost felt like an afterthought.
The band, in contradiction to the image conjured up by their mystical endeavours were dressed casually; this teamed with the functional nature of the stage layout left something to the imagination as far as the Bat For Lashes image was concerned.
Natasha Kahn pounced onto the microphone, however, wearing an incredible tasselled cat-suit; giving her the appearance not unlike a combination of Woodstock ’69 Robert Plant and the Star Wars’ Wampa, residing on the ice planet Hoth.
She sported a furry wolf mask which was worn on the back of her head and was only therefore visible when she turned her back to the audience, and kicked off her boots within seconds of coming into view, as if this was an action she wanted to be seen; otherwise just take them off beforehand?
By the end of her opening track which included a string section, gorgeous lead vocals and a truly f**k-off-if-you-think-girls-can’t-play-drums performance from Sarah Jones, she was dancing around the stage like some incensed harpy. Khan enthralled the venue with her stunning vocal display; personally I was mesmerized by the drumming; complex, precise, rolling toms and booming samples triggered from Sarah Jones. Epic.
Background visuals included a strange memorial-esque video montage of Khan herself wandering about what looked like the Nevada desert in a floaty dress giving slow motion smiles to the camera; which felt a little odd, perhaps even tacky? This was followed by an image of a wolf howling at a full moon; much like a poster someone who has a collection of unicorns might have on their bedroom wall… next to their dreamcatcher.
A number of hits from Fur and Gold including ‘Sarah’, (with its pure rock bassline – literally strumming like the step-brother of the one from Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain) ‘The Wizard’ with its slow dance beat and fantastic range of vocals; Natasha Khan showing off her ability as a singer and powerful presence on stage as she gripped us all with her sporadic tiger-on-speed jumping and crawling; it was like the Cats stage show if you stuffed it into a Chinese vase and smashed it over the bough of HMS Cool.
Stopping at one point and encouraging the entire venue to lean their heads back and howl with her, Khan showed just how much she had sucked us in to her magic world, before the most incredible solo performance of ‘Priscilla’ which involved Natasha sitting alone under a single spotlight playing autoharp with delicate precision.
Ending, of course, with ‘Daniel’, it’s obvious to see why Bat For Lashes has carved its way into our heart; a dance track not far from the likes of Tori Amos covering New Order, no wonder it was such a hit. This was one of the best gigs I have ever seen; crisp sound, perfect pitch; stunning.
But I am docking her a point for lack of head-dress or mental stage decoration. More effort next time, Tash. Keep us guessing! And get your string section out of their jeans and t-shirts!
Artists in this article: Bat For Lashes
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment