The last time I saw Laura Marling, it was one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever witnessed. In the cozy confines of Le Divan Orange in 2010, the sound cut out about 2 songs in, at which point, Laura dismissed her entire backing band and performed the entire show solo and acoustic, completely impromptu. Laura was incredible, and it was absolutely amazing.
Tonight, things are a little more subdued right off the bat. Laura and her 5-piece backing band come onstage at 8:30 sharp, and launch into lounge-jazz opener Soothing from newest record Semper Femina, before continuing the mellow theme with Wild Fire and The Valley. Laura briefly addresses the crowd for the first time with a “bonjour, je m’appelle Laura” before nervously continuing with an “erm, that’s it!” regarding her French fluency.
Don’t Pass Me By starts with Laura’s delicate guitar, before drums and bass arrive to beef up the chorus, before the mellowness returns in the form of Always This Way and Next Time. All the while, Laura sings staring blankly up at the closed-off balcony (evidently ticket sales weren’t quite enough to warrant its opening) instead of across the crowd, and there’s a distinct sense that there’s not much connection with the crowd. The empty balcony isn’t lost on Laura either; after the upbeat Nothing, Not Nearly, the backing band leaves the stage leaving Laura alone. She asks the crowd, “has anyone been to my shows before?” After a good chunk of the crowd cheers back, Laura remarks “every one of them has been here…with ever diminishing audiences…” She quickly tries to brush it off jokingly by saying its probably because she doesn’t speak French, before playing 3 songs solo and acoustic in a manner that brings back memories of that amazing Divan Orange show all those years ago, and is surely the highlight of the set.
Her 2 backing singers, The Topolski Sisters, return to the stage to provide backing vocals on Daisy, before the rest of the band rejoin and are introduced in turn. The full band sound is restored in the form of How Can I, before a stirring rendition of Sophia, which begins with just Laura and her Cellist, before Laura breaks into a strum, and the drums join in for a country-esque stomp, which almost feels like a rock-out by tonights mellow standards.
After the band relate random facts (due to banter not being Laura’s forte, by her own admission) and a run-through of 2012’s Once, Laura addresses the crowd one final time, with a slightly unconvincing “thanks for coming, it’s been great,” before again complaining about the size of the crowd: “hopefully next time there will be more.” It’s very unusual to hear an artist bemoan the size of the crowd from the stage at all, let alone twice in the same show, but it’s clearly gotten to her this evening. Again, she tries to brush it off jokingly by suggesting she write a song in French, before playing stomper Rambling Man to close off the set.
No encores are forthcoming, as Laura had warned us, and the evening ends after just an hour and a quarter. With 6 albums to her name, the show feels a little on the short side, a little flat maybe, and unquestionably, not a patch on the magical Divan Orange show of 2010. Perhaps a smaller venue next time around would be a good idea, to try and rediscover the magic that everyone at Théatre Corona knows is there.
Setlist
Soothing
Wild Fire
The Valley
Don’t Pass Me By
Always This Way
Next Time
Nothing, Not Nearly
Pray For Me
For the Sake of the Song (Townes Van Zandt cover)
Wild Once
Daisy
How Can I
Sophia
Once
Rambling Man
Review and photos – Simon Williams
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