Reviews

Artists: Anais Mitchell
Venue: 12 Bar Club
Town: London
Date: 25 May 2010
Website: www.anaismitchell.com

Some gigs you think you know what you are going to get and you are right; some gigs you think you know what you are going to get and you are wrong. In this case I was wrong. This evening, the second of three at London's 12 Bar Club, was in celebration of the UK release of "Hadestown" an album based on the Orpheus myth set in a post apocalyptic American depression era company town and, as such, I was expecting more than just a few tracks from it. Instead this was a regular show, one that was several notches above most other artist regular shows, but regular none the less.

The first track from Hadestown she played was "I Raise My Cup To Him" which is the last track on the album followed by "Wedding Song", which is the first! After "Hey, Little Songbird" which is the seduction scene between Hades and Eurydice, Mitchell asks "if it would be cool to stray from Hadetown" a request that met with pretty much universal approval.

"The Shepherd", "Old Fashioned Hat" and "Shenandoah" were requested and all were played and it then hit me that there is no such thing as a "regular" Mitchell gig. I only went to one of the three but would not mind betting that no more than 50% would have been common to each night. I can only blame myself for hearing "Orion" because, if I had have shouted loud enough and quickly enough I am sure she would have played it.

The highlights of the night were arguably her take on the traditional folk song "Clyde's Water" and the encore; an Arabic folk song, learnt in Eygpt and featuring a rooster. Unfortunately it also featured interesting backing vocals from an audience member I can only assume had slightly too much falling over juice. Although the announcement that that full Hadestown production could be coming to the UK in the fall got applause and cheers as loud as anything she sang.

The Jacket
pic:Seb Shaw