ROSALIE CUNNINGHAM
The woman at the mic, with the Gibson SG and kaleidoscopic jumpsuit, looks focused. This is the last night of her first solo tour; a new beginning of sorts, albeit one that’s been a long time coaming.
Back in 2011 Rosalie Cunningham, a young ‘old soul’ from Southend-on-Sea, formed Purson as a vehicle for her burgeoning visions of vaudeville psych, Beatlesinspired freakouts and luxury progressive rock. Over the next six or so years Purson gathered momentum, toured with Ghost and performed alongside the likes of Pentagram and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats. By the time of 2016’s Desire’s Magic Theatre, however, it was a Cunningham solo project in all but name. So tonight, along with her self-titled solo LP – and her new, game-raising band – feels like a natural next step.
Not that there aren’t shadows of her old band. Ex-Pursonite Raphael Mura is on drums for one thing. And for all her sharp projections of Morticia Addamseyed confidence, Cunningham seems cautiously aware that she could be facing a crowd that knows her chiefly for her previous life. Accordingly, the set is peppered with Purson tracks, the best of which is the Stonesmeets-Mott The Hoople stomp of Chocolate Money.
But it’s the new material that really shines. It’s a vivid yet slick, densely populated rainbow of prog trips, 70s rock’n’roll and heady cabaret hoodoo – plus waves of Beatles-y sensibilities throughout (less moptop, more Abbey Road). Openers Ride On My Bike and Dethroning Of The Party Queen offer boot-stomping blasts of macabre fairground vibes, boosted by falsetto harmonies from bassist Alpha Michelle. Cunningham’s own voice takes on a Kate Bush-esque otherworldliness in the higher notes of
Fuck Love, before slipping back into deeper territory for House Of The Glass Red – a song that could’ve almost come from Sean Lennon via The Claypool Lennon Delirium. And on Nobody Hears, confident with the musicians around her (not to mention
“IT’S THE NEW MATERIAL THAT REALLY SHINES:
A VIVID YET SLICK, DENSELY POPULATED RAINBOW OF PROG TRIPS, 70S ROCK’N’ROLL AND HEADY CABARET
HOODOO.”
in her own playing and singing), she conveys the kind of emotion and delicacy that Purson never quite hit.
The evening flies by. “We’ve got a couple of songs left, but one of them is about 15 minutes long,” she announces with a wry smile. She’s not kidding. After the moreish, classy strut of Riddles And Games, they dive into deliciously proggy opus A Yarn From The Wheel. It goes on and on and on, without losing intrigue, taking in tastes of Fleetwood Mac, Focus and more along the way.
“Thank you so much,” she says, before bowing out with Tragic Catastrophe, complete with ace bottleneck lead lines from guitarist Rosco Levee. “I honestly wasn’t expecting this kind of turnout, I haven’t done this for two and a half years…”
Based on tonight’s performance, let’s hope she keeps doing it.