Laura Marling Aros Hall, Mull - 18/7/11
5/5
By: Rachel Bolland
Recently it seems that a gig is becoming not so much a place to watch live music as somewhere to have a fairly expensive drink and a chat with your mates. I don’t think I could count the number of gigs I’ve been to recently where the atmosphere of the event has been completely ruined by people talking throughout. Yet though it’s quickly becoming one of my ultimate pet peeves, unfortunately it’s seems to be a growing trend.
However, the audience in Tobermory’s Aros Hall was a complete revelation. It was so refreshing to be a part of a quiet, attentive and appreciative audience because, as it should be, it allowed Laura Marling’s incredible talent to become the main focus. It’s no secret that Marling is one of the most talented singers and songwriters around at the moment, proven by the fact she’s 21 with two Mercury nominations under her belt, a Brit award, an NME award and no signs of slowing down. She’s clearly something unique with her albums and live shows receiving praise from all sides. It was just something about the experience of this show that made it so completely exceptional and unique.
The set was mainly a showcase of songs from her upcoming album A Creature I Don’t Know, and this was the perfect platform. Whereas many audiences tend to get restless, this lot were happy to listen and appreciate these new songs while drinking from their cups of tea, which were being handed out downstairs. Marling even confessed that at most of her previous gigs she had run two tracks together as a way of getting away with playing more new songs in her set but ‘Don’t Ask Me Why/Salinas’ were received just as well as ‘Ghosts’, the only song from her debut record.
The intimacy of the gig seemed to relax the young singer as she was much chattier than I’ve previously seen her. Confessing to being terrible at stage banter she was actually very sweet, telling stories about her family, including one about a text she got from her mother just before she played Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage saying “For god’s sake darling, don’t forget to smile’. Perhaps one of her most captivating stories was the tale behind ‘Made in Maid’, which she performed without her backing band. The explanation of the pagan folk story she told provided, for me, a whole new level to the song and her captivating delivery was one of my personal highlights
At the risk of gushing or hyperbolising, this was honestly one of the best shows I’ve been to in a very, very long time. Perhaps it was just the change in pace from city shows or the politeness of the audience but I spent days afterwards wishing to relive it. It was just sensational, and I don’t think it was just me. After playing ‘All My Rage’ from her new record, Marling announced that her band and her have a policy of not doing encores, “So if you haven’t enjoyed the show the next song is the last song but if you did then that was it and this is the encore song”. At that point she raised her guitar in order to start playing ‘I Speak Because I Can’ but was halted by the rapturous applause that erupted and carried on for a good five minutes. She looked incredibly humbled, almost stunned, and the reception was evidence of what a special show it was.
Artists in this article: Laura Marling
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