I was in Kilburn last night to see Sean O'Hagan (frontman of The High Llamas) and Stuart Moxham (Young Marble Giants guitairst) play a show at the Luminaire.
The High Llamas are one my favourite bands and I had already seen them play this venue twice in recent years. I had also been listening to 'Colossal Youth' by Young Marble Giants quite a lot lately so was looking forward to this gig...
The website from which I bought the ticket had indicated that Stuart Moxham would be headlining, with Sean O'Hagan in support, so I was beginning to get a little nervous when delays on the Jubilee line caused me to arrive later than planned. However, on reaching the venue the stage times were completely different to what I had expected. Relief.
I arrived in time to catch the last twenty minutes of opener Louise Le May's fragile, theatrical piano songs. Next up was Stuart Moxham. It was interesting to hear him sing, I hadn't heard any of his solo albums, only knowing his music as part of the excellent Young Marble Giants. His vocals were soft and assure and he played an enjoyable acoustic set, featuring his daughter on two songs and also collaborator Louis Philippe on a couple. He included a brilliant (and unexpected) version of Young Marble Giants track 'N.I.T.A', vocal harmonies replacing the synthesisers of the recorded version.
Sean O'Hagan came on stage next, supported by fellow High Llamas member Marcus Holdaway on cello. He started with two tracks from 'Beet, Maize & Corn' - 'Leaf & Lime' and 'Calloway', the latter featuring some beautiful cello from Marcus Holdaway. Next was 'Bach Ze' followed by a beautiful, stripped down version of 'The Goat Looks On'. It was a little unusual not hearing the sumptuous harmonies but it was still a beautiful rendition, sounding quite poignant in places. It even featured a rare piece of political commentary from Sean half way though.
This was followed by 'Nomads', again without harmonies, but these were to an extent replicated by members of the audience. 'Sailing Bells' from 'Can Cladders' came next, followed by a track from the forthcoming new album (I didn't catch the title but the lyrics featured the word 'riviera'). 'Rorary Hop' and 'Passing Bell' closed the set, Sean encouraging the audience to assist with backing vocals on the latter. A spine-tinglingly good, short set which further increased my anticipation of seeing The High Llamas in full on 3rd December.
Sean O'Hagan Setlist
Leaf And Lime
Calloway
Bach Ze
The Goat Looks On
Nomads
Sailing Bells
(new song)
(new song)
Rotary Hop
Passing Bell
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