anika in london

A show presented by Duke of Uke in some random posh house in Bloomsbury. I felt a bit out of place, everyone was old(er than me) and drinking glasses of wine. But I like it, it’s nice to go to a mix of shows. 

They let us in (you had to buzz the doorbell to get in) and they shepherded us into a room with lots of glasses of wine for sale. They didn’t let us into the main room for a while, clever, clever. When they did let us in, the whole front row was reserved so we took seats in the second row. At first I rated my chair a solid 7/10 but by the end of the night I would have given it 4. The setting was lovely, it was like a room in the National Portrait Gallery, tons of portraits all over the walls. 

The first act was a gentleman called Stuart Silver, it was mostly spoken word with a bit of ukulele here and there. Honeybear from California/Calgary played next. His set was composed entirely of ukulele covers which were sweet and pleasant. I would have much preferred to have heard original material though.

So, after some waiting around, Serafina took to the tiny stage accompanied by her friend Polly. Finally! This is what I paid money for, real music! What a talent! She played the harp and sang beautifully, and instead of doing the all too familiar looping trick (I do love the loops, but it was refreshing to have everything done then and there) Polly sang harmonies with her. The harmonies were to die for. They did a cover of Suedehead, and she attempted a Daniel Johnston cover but gave up after about one line. It was sweet and endearing, the awkward stage banter was charming. What a good find. I’ve actually known about her for over a year, she was on the lineup to play with Chris Garneau at the Barfly last May and I investigated her then, but she never played. A shame indeed, you definately need to go see this lady perform live. Her Myspace is here.

My only complaint of this whole evening is that there was literally equal ‘interlude’ time to actual music playing time, all of the acts played short sets. I figure it’s just a ploy to sell more wine. Hmpfff. 

Woodpigeon were the headliners. I’ve seen Mark play twice before but this was the first time with a full band. It was lovely, I like Woodpgeon alot. They hail from Calgary and released Treasury Library Canada over here this year and Songbook last year. Both albums are very good and I would recommend them. I loved the full band sound, very lovely indeed.

On the way out I got to say hi to Mark, it’s been ages since I last saw him. The band had flown from Sweden the day before and were flying to Calgary the next. Phew, exhausting! If you are yet to see Woodpigeon, here is their Myspace, go go go!