Jane Weaver
In April last year I headed over to the Portland Arms in Cambridge to see Kiran Leonard. Support that night was Irma Vep backed by Kiran & Kiran’s band and it was, I would say, one of the 20 best support sets I have ever seen - 10 minute psych workouts, backed by a terrific band, the crowd were completely stunned and blown away. Helped also by the fact that Irma was shirtless, caped and sporting shades. A lot to live up to then, and here in Norwich playing with just a drummer (albeit Kiran’s ace drummer) it was always going to be a tough ask to live up to my lofty expectations. That Irma didn’t quite manage it is no criticism at all - in fact his set held the attention of a large crowd who were into his lo-fi jams. Confident, and expert at weaving repetitive patterns on the guitar it was good to see him live again, but I can’t deny that I still hanker for the full band experience again one day.
On record Jane Weaver is good. Not great, but good. Live it was largely the same story. All the ingredients were in place - psych pop vibes, motorik Krautrock beat, ethereal vocals and trippy visuals on the screen, but whilst I certainly enjoyed the set, it never really took off in the way I wanted it to. There was a very tame atmosphere in the audience, despite the gig being very busy. A world away from last week’s Monday night psychedelic extravaganza in the company of Acid Mothers Temple. A slightly unfair comparison perhaps, but genre wise we are in roughly the same ballpark. Jane was assured on stage, her band (hi Kiran & Irma’s drummer) were absolutely on point, but after a while the song(s) began to sound the same. I did the best I could - I got myself into the zone as much as I was possibly able, but standing towards the back looking at a crowd standing almost entirely still, the gig was never going to really get into third gear.
On the whole it was a bit too psych by numbers, there wasn’t really a sense that we were desperate to hear this song or that song being played. I certainly had a good night, but as I made my way home I left with the same feeling as i had arrived with - Jane Weaver; good, but not great.
