JANE WEAVER
VENUE LONDON QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL
DATE 26/11/2022 SUPPORT ANNA B SAVAGE, ALBERTINE SARGES
Glancing at the ticket, Prog realises something has gone slightly awry. Timings on it say 7.30pm doors and yet it’s 7.20pm and tonight’s first support act, Albertine Sarges, is already in full flow. Thankfully we hear most of the set from this engaging post-punk artist from Berlin, appearing solo (“unfortunately I couldn’t bring the band”) accompanied by backing tracks and her own guitar playing. Sarges – expressive Betty Boop eyes, grey striped suit and chunky black Chelsea boots – is naturally comedic in her between-song chat and Prog detects Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson in her work; clever, peppy and poppy in its own way, but with emotional depth.
Londoner Anna B Savage gets a cheer as she walks onstage barefoot with her three bandmates (keys, bass, drums), unified in red clothing. Savage is at ease, joking about how tonight’s performance will be mainly the tuning of her guitars. However, her music is subtly complex; confessional songwriting put across by a soulful vocal that approaches Joan Armatrading’s with existential themes à la Jenny Hval.
Tonight is experimental pop musician Jane Weaver’s night, named after her Sunset Dreams EP. Song choices are mainly from 2021’s Top 30 album Flock with some tracks from 2017’s Modern Kosmology and 2014’s The Silver Globe. Weaver glides gracefully in a red maxitunic over a black unitard (“It’s all a bit Bruce Dickinson under here!”) and tells us, introducing the cute 70s electronica of Don’t Take My Soul, “I was trolled by a guy who called us ‘cruise ship psych’. But little did he know… I took that as a compliment.”
Weaver’s voice is hugely impressive. On record, her tone, pitch and control are very good, but here, she has power and projection – Annie Haslam-esque at times. It fills the large, high-ceilinged space, and is especially fantastic on Heartlow, Slow Motion and I Need A Connection, the evening’s standout as a light show kicks into gear and creates visual focus.
And here’s the one grumble: sonically and musically the band are excellent. There’s intricate guitar and in-thepocket bass. Drums are jazzy and energetic and you can almost feel Andrew Cheetham’s leg cramp from I Wish’s Dinger groove. Raz Ullah’s flatcapped space effects prove you don’t have to be a DikMik hippie to be a psychedelic synth warlord. But the band do look like they’ve popped out for a pint and ended up onstage. With no (even casually) unifying look, backdrop, projections or films and only a basic lighting display (paging Liquid Len!) full immersion in the event never manifests. Production matters, and the experience would have gone from “Really good” to “Bloody brilliant!”