Bat for Lashes // UEA, 26.10.12
Bat For Lashes play live at Hallowe'en
Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, has just released her third album The Haunted Man. With her progress in the music world rock solid up until now, I was intrigued to see her live and hear her new tunes. Historically rather shy and retiring with a very high standard of her own work, Khan appears on stage dressed in a 'one off' (as she tells us when someone asks where her dress is from) floor length high necked brown floral dress; she is a very stylish girl. The stage is also dressed very creatively with fake rocks and a backdrop of the blue sea. To make it really evocative there are storm lamps dotted across the stage, even on the top of the old-timey piano, and they flicker on and off throughout the night. Clever idea.
The audience (not half as large as I anticipated, and mainly made up of 50 year old men and 30 year old women) were very enthusiastic but in a kind of respectful and quiet way, which made me feel in some ways that it would have been better as a seated concert; there was that feeling of performance and a show being played out, rather than a gig. She's got a band with her who look like members of the XX; all monochrome clothes and metrosexual haircuts; but they can play faultlessly, harmonise beautifully and seem to use every single instrument ever created including the mystical theramin.
Natasha is definitely the star of the show though, a fine dancer in a swoopy and at the same time robotic way. She actually seems happiest when she's dancing. Rather nervy and unconfident for the first 4 or 5 songs she eventually finds her feet and converses with the audience in a minimal but sincerely grateful way. I feel rather responsible for her happiness this evening; if we didn't clap, she would cry, I feel. That's not normal for a 'pop star' but very refreshing and human. She plays solidly through a wide variety of tracks from all three of her albums, including all the favourites like Horse and I and Daniel as well as new tracks like Marilyn.
The stand out moment of the evening was when she played the piano and sang Laura, whilst being accompanied on acoustic guitar and her voice, heartbreakingly beautiful and her face, reflecting the meaning behind the words, come together to create a really special 5 minutes that I won't forget; reminiscent of Edith Piaf in the spotlight on a dark stage. Her voice is crackly and she has a cough, which she apologises for throughout but still manages to hit all the notes including some really high ones. The audience are consistently delighted. Natasha Khan is the closest we have to Kate Bush or a young PJ Harvey in my opinion. She is clearly a highly talented, highly musical individual who considers the whole evening a performance, from what she wears to how she sounds. Love live more creative individuals in the music industry who are brave enough to create.
