I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 2, 2019] Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding came through Philly back in April.  She played Johnny Brenda’s and I bought a ticket but was unable to go.

I was resigned to the idea that she wouldn’t be back in the area again for a long time.  So I was happily surprised to see that she was passing through town again (in my head she came from England, landed in the east and went west and then wended her way back east to go home again).

I also was happy that she was Underground Arts, which is a venue I really like.

I knew a couple of Aldous Harding songs, but I primarily wanted to see her because I’d heard that her live show was fantastic.

I didn’t know all that much about Aldous, except that she was definitely a little peculiar (her videos are wonderfully bizarre).  It wasn’t until just before the show that I learned that she was from New Zealand and not France as I had always assumed (she lives in England now).  I also found out that her given name is Hannah.

The lights went down and Aldous’ band came out.

The four of them were very quiet and almost stately as they walked out and picked up their instruments.

On my left was Gwion Llywelyn on drums.  Across the stage was Mali Llywelyn on keys.

In the back were Harry Stevenson on bass and Huw Evans (Aldous’ partner) on guitars.

After a moment, Aldous came out and sat down on the stool at the front of the stage.

The way she sat was fascinating (someone described it as manspreading).  She picked up her guitar and began singing “Elation.”  It was quiet and very pretty.  She played a very soft guitar and sang quietly.  So much so that when, after about three verses, Gwion started playing a simple drum pattern, it felt like a shock to the system.

But mostly I was mesmerized by Aldous herself.  She looked around at people, more or less staring at the crowd–who knows what she could see.  She smiled, she made faces, she rolled her eyes up into her head.  It was unclear if she was transported by her music or doing something intentional.  It was pretty wild.

From there she played seven out of nine songs from her new album Designer.  [Skipping “Pilot” and “Weight of the Planets”].

The first one was “Designer.”  For this one, she stood up and danced while she sang.  Her dancing motions were just as peculiar as her seated motions and I loved the way she seemed possessed by the song.

Then came “Zoo Eyes.”  She sat back down and played guitar.  This time there was some full (but quiet) accompaniment from the band and some nice backing vocals throughout.

It was fascinating to me that she had the band with her but used them so sparingly.  So “Treasure” was played on solo acoustic guitar with occasional keyboard notes from Mali.

Aldous’ most recent single was “The Barrel” and as soon as this shuffling, somewhat upbeat song started, the audience began dancing (slowly).  The song sounded amazing live and felt so energetic after the quiet “Treasure.”  I also loved the backing vocals from Gwion.

After this song, she stood up and went over the the keyboard rack.  She shared the bench with Mali and began playing “Damn” by herself.  It was very pretty, but I loved when Mali started playing with her on the same keyboard.

The song was so pretty and quiet that I was delighted at seeing how the band was totally enraptured by it.

And then, like earlier, it was Gwion who broke the spell with a lovely trumpet solo.

Throughout the night she would say things between songs but it was never entirely clear to me what she was saying.  Before the next song, she sat on the stool and crossed her legs saying something like “I can have fun.”  Which was a strange introduction to the rather dark song “Heaven is Empty.”

Up next was “Blend,” the first song she’d played from her previous album Party.  Huw played a lovely guitar melody while Aldous stood and sang to us.  Her enigmatic moves were mesmerizing.  And as the song came to an end, she did a wonderfully weird dance across the stage, which I wished I’d gotten a video of.

After “Blend,” she stood up spread her arms, then bowed and they walked off, with most of the crowd wondering if that was really the end of the show (it had been maybe an hour).

They came back out after a few minutes and settled in to play my favorite Aldous Harding song, “Imagining My Man.”  This was the first song of hers that I had heard and I loved that it was a mellow, quiet song but that on several occasions throughout, things would change.  There’s a few times when her quiet vocals suddenly grow very loud and almost piercing.   And there’s the wonderful “Hey!” that occurs in the choruses.  The first time that Mali shouted “Hey!” someone in the audience did too and that seemed to delight everyone, so it was a shame he didn’t do it again.

She had one more song for us.  This one was a brand new song called “Old Peel.”  She started it off by hitting a coffee mug with a drumstick and then kept playing the mug throughout the song.  It was the most upbeat and rousing song of the night and it was a rather fun way to end the show.

I have seen that she has mixed up the set lists a little bit in the recent shows.  I also checked to see if the set was very different back in April.

It is largely unchanged except that we got to hear the new song and “Fixture Picture” which has become one of my favorites on the album.  And although I have heard that her cover of Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down the Line” was excellent, I don’t know the song and I am so much happier that we got to hear “Imagining My Man,” instead.

I really enjoyed the show and am really pleased to have gotten to see her.

Incidentally there is a spectacular video of “Old Peel” from Rough Trade where at around 3:15 the maraca that Gwion is using on the drums explodes.  It’s pretty cool.

SETLIST

1. Elation [single]
2. Designer ∂
3. Fixture Picture ∂
4. Zoo Eyes ∂
5. Treasure ∂
6. The Barrel ∂
7. Damn ∂
8. Heaven is Empty ∂
9. Blend ¶
   encore
10. Imagining My Man ¶
11. Old Peel [new]

∂ Designer (2019)
¶ Party (2017)

Setlist from the Johnny Brenda’s show that I did not go to.

SETLIST

1. Designer ∂
2. Zoo Eyes ∂
3. Treasure ∂
4. The Barrel ∂
5. Damn ∂
6. Weight of the Planets ∂
7. Heaven is Empty ∂
8. Pilot ∂
9. Blend ¶
   encore
10. Right Down the Line [Gerry Rafferty cover]
11. Old Peel [new]