After
the Swindon Shuffle last weekend, it’s back to the distaff run… this time the
return of an old friend to my Dance Card, albeit under a new guise! I’d seen
and enjoyed She Makes War, the then-vehicle for the grunge/ dreampop/ college
rock stylings of DIY musician Laura Kidd, a trio of occasions in that immediate
pre-Covid period, including on very apposite support slots with Desperate
Journalist and Juliana Hatfield (that Jools support, gig 1,138 in May 2019
being the last time our paths had crossed). Since then, Laura’s activity had included
a move to a slightly more thoughtful, introspective musical output and a name change
to Penfriend reflecting this, a personal move from Bristol to Nottingham, but
absolutely zip by way of “live” performances, this seemingly being a deliberate
move on Laura’s part to detox herself from the utter faff of touring as an
independent artist. Fair enough, I guess. Until…
Announcing a sophomore Penfriend album, the understated yet splendidly hooky and chorally harmonic “House Of Stories”, Laura arranged a one-off date in her now-native Notts, followed by a quartet of September dates, one in her previous Bristol stomping grounds. Noise from the artist herself suggested this mini tour might also be a one-off, never to be repeated, so I booked for a potentially final opportunity to see one of the most fiercely uncompromising artists of recent times, a true punk rocker in attitude if not in musical style. Thusly, I set off about 6.30 into the low setting sun down the M4, parking up and joining the clutch of friends and fans (many sporting She Makes War tees) in the RT back room for opener Carol Hodge at 7.45. A striking tousled brunette in billowing black dress, she announced herself as, “from Huddersfield, I’m Pisces, and I only have 7 fingers… so of course I play piano for a living!” This wry and self-deprecating attitude extended into her very listenable set, the upbeat opener “Moan Of 1,000 Years” a hooky, vaguely 70’s tinged new wavey table-setter, followed by “You Can’t Dream Enough”, a more plaintive paean to her time living out of her car, and an equally introspective “Queen Of Settling In”, documenting her recent neuro-divergency discovery and subsequent self-awareness journey. Shot through with a similar DIY punk attitude to the headliner (no surprise, given Ms. Hodge lends keys to Crass’ Steve Ignorant as her side hustle!), and featuring a big, strident and dynamic voice that could strip rust off the inside of a drainpipe (!), this was a fine and thought-provoking opening set highlighted with a fine “Silhouette”, a brooding social commentary piece recalling Scott Walker’s Jacques Brel material. Nicely done!
“This
is the first Penfriend gig in Bristol! Sorry it took so long – I didn’t want to
do it!” confessed Laura on taking the stage for her headlining set, a quick 15-minute
turnaround later. The eerie pastoral tones of old SMW number “Scared To Capsize”
eased the set in, Laura swapping between guitar and ukulele and two-handing
this set with Carol on keyboard embellishments, so subsequently making occasional
use of tape loops to flesh the sound out. I’m not normally a fan of these, but I
must admit they added extra harmonic depth to the performance and were well received
by this supportive and loyal crowd. Laura appreciated their/ our response too, commenting,
“since my last gig I’ve learned to accept applause as thanks!”
With this more relaxed approach, Laura delivered an engaging and inclusive performance, with lots of stop-start, stream-of-consciousness, off-the-cuff banter, bonhomie and audience interaction with the devotees (including one fan who’d seen her “live” 73 times!). And, in between subjects as diverse as Gloucester Services, ripped dresses necessitating a late switch to trousers, and feeling giant whilst playing the uke (!) the music was pretty cool too; “Emotional Tourist”, shorn of the swathes of electronica on record, took on a darker, gothier tone with a tinge of Taylor Swift’s revenge break-up material; “Seashaken” required 2 takes but was lovely, with “Automatic”-era R.E.M-esque keys from Carol; and a looped acapella “Delete” was baroque and almost madrigal-like, earning the biggest and longest cheer of the night.
A
couple of rockier moments from Laura’s recent Obey Robots project with Rat from
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin were late highlights; then a charming, dreamy and relaxed
1½ hours ended with Laura switching on the disco lights, announcing “I’m Laura and
I’ve just bared my soul to you!” and closing matters with a twinkling “Disco
Loadout”. Brief chats afterwards with both performers (chatting about Crass
with Carol, and Laura referring to me as a very patient man!) before I hit the
road, home at 11.30. Great to see Laura treading the boards after so long; let’s
hope she makes good on a late-set promise to return next year…!
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