Reviews
Artists:Anais Mitchell / The Bowmans
Venue:The Luminaire
Town:London
Date:21/01/09
Website:http://www.anaismitchell.com/
http://www.thebowmansmusic.com/
The first thing I noticed about The Bowmans, before they even took to the stage, was the three tambourines neatly laid out on a table. I do not profess to be any kind of authority on tambourines but three? That seems at least one too many. They were played – along with egg shaker and glockenspiel – at various times by Claire Bowman. Twin sister Sarah played the guitar. They both sang: beautifully.
The first three songs; “Trouble”, “Southern Sky” and “Nothing Yet” all came from their soon to be released second album which has just been shipped to their father. They may get copies in time for their appearance on Bob Harris’ radio show, but not soon enough to make it to the merchandising “area” (cloakroom!) of the Luminaire. With these new songs they added tracks such as “Make it Last” and “The Kitchen Song” from 2007’s “Far From Home” with an effortless series of stories and anecdotes ranging from why North Carolina is now a “blue state” and that Claire hadn’t had a haircut since the last time she was in London.
The vocal harmonies were stunning with their final track “On The Road” showcasing them as well as any - even with the collapse of the glockenspiel stand. Unusually for a support band, they played for nearly an hour which gave their set a relaxed, unrushed feel and plenty of time to us what a great audience we were: with a performance as good as this it would be impossible not to be.
The Bowmans had been trying to play a gig with Anais Mitchell for year; I’d been trying to see her play since I heard “1984” on a mix tape (well mix CD) at the end of 2006. I think it is an unwritten law that any kind of review of Anais Mitchell must mention that she is signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, so I will get that out of the way straight away.
Dressed in black with big brown boots, Mitchell has a mesmerising stage presence; “Cosmic American” had nearly finished before I snapped out of my trance and started writing. By the time “Your Fonder Heart” had finished I was cursing myself for not dragging myself from my sickbed last year.
After “Why We Build The Wall” from her folk-opera “Hadestown”, “Our Lady of the Underground” (also from Hadestown) stunned me. Used to her folky voice, I was completely unprepared for the bluesy, blowsy, bar room bluster (complete with request for a whisky – “just to get in character”) she gave this track. Any kind of an orderly, structured performance was about to go out of the window. Announcing that she had left her set list in the green room, Mitchell opened up the floor for requests. Cue bedlam. I heard just about every song of hers I knew plus plenty more I didn’t. “Namesake” was shouted particularly loudly and she just about gave up on singing “1984” letting the crowd do it for her. After “Old Fashioned Hat” a brand new song was sung, based on a story written by her father it had the feel of a traditional English ballad; you knew how it would finish before it started, but still hoped for a happy ending.
The set was drawing to a close but there was still time for gorgeous renditions of “Orion” and “Shenandoah” before being joined by The Bowmans for Leadbellys “Goodnight Irene” (Sarah sang the 2nd Verse and Claire the 3rd). As absolutely nothing can follow that, I made my way out past the already lengthy queue of people wanting to buy albums from both Anais and The Bowmans.
John Hawes