Something of a change of venue from the supernatural references of The Slaughtered Lamb to the legendary St Pancras Old Church with its rock and roll connections going back over half a century to that famed Beatles photo shoot. Scott Mackenzie (and presumably John Phillips as well) would have approved, as Kassi Valazza could be seen standing bare foot on a grave monument, with, yes flowers in her hair. These would be the most flamboyant parts of her presentation, as standing at the centre of the chancel she would maintain a near stationary stance as she sang songs of the most vivid imagery backed by her regular touring band.
Kassi Valazza has her recent album “From Newman Street” to promote, and the set started with the first two cuts from that album with the warm country-tinged ‘Better Highways‘ crunching a path that feels like a song one has known for decades – a reflection on life’s mutations and a heavy reminder of everyone’s final fate: “It changes day to day / Death will remind you.” The opening of ‘Birds Fly‘ filled the venue with dappled sunlight feelings, to which the words are an ambivalent fit as aspects of the touring life collide with love petering out which connects perfectly with the “I’m home – you’re not” of ‘Room In The City‘ with the bass player doubling on harmonica.
Maybe it’s because she needed more vocal in her monitor, or maybe it’s because these beautifully constructed songs rarely veer towards purely happy thoughts, but Valazza looked as if she’d been hit with a heavy downer. Maybe it’s because she knew ‘Small Things‘ was coming up – as it tripped and stumbled through a stream of consciousness Valazza reflects “you look great to me, some say you look like your father – but me, I never met..your father“. Perspective shifts – “you’re half asleep – thinking about tomorrow“: is it the good looking man or Valazza who is already in the next day? In part it’s these ambiguities that make the songs so riveting – it’s a pin drop silent as the audience hang on every perfectly sung word. Although it seems to have discouraged Valazza from talking about the songs, the band adds perfect accompaniment, the drumming on ‘Small Things‘ really fills the space’s between verses. That ambiguity becomes particularly golden on ‘Watching Planes Go By‘ a standout highlight from the “Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing” album, it has something of the air of ‘Eight Miles High‘ as the guitars chime and reach beyond the venue’s roof.
Valazza may have mastered songs of emotional pain and relationships not working out – ‘Roll On‘ demonstrates this as leaving is an acceptance and, without rancour, she’s quietly out of the door in the early morning. She also has a hankering after a good murder ballad although ‘Johnny Dear‘ doesn’t explicitly spell out the scenario but it certainly carries the weight of a returning spectral form long years after death.
When an audience interaction does occur it’s a spirited call to open our wallets and visit the merch’ stall, the equivalent Valazza states to buying popcorn when you catch a movie and there’s some of that in song with ‘Your Heart’s a Tin Box‘ wondering, amongst other things how despite “two months of selling out most of the shows” she doesn’t know “where all that money goes.” It’s a joy of a song though, and it’s here and on ‘Weight of the Wheel‘ that the listener is most likely to bring Joni to mind. Kassi Valazza really is that good, and more than worthy of the comparison. There’s lovely alliteration – “Their silver bow strings / play songs of old kings” on the wistful ‘Song For A Season‘, whilst the set closer of ‘From Newman Street‘ is given an extra boost by the venue as the ten o’clock chimes blend perfectly with Valazza’s solo acoustic rendition – no soulless modern venue can replicate that kind of magic.
When it came to the encore it pays, sometimes, to not be an obsessive reader of set lists – not knowing it was an occasionally included song gave an extra thrill to Valazza singing “A holiday, a holiday, and the first one of the year” to open what would be a perfect rendition of ‘Matty Groves.’ Someone is clearly a Fairport fan, but who (other than those obsessive set list readers) would have guessed that the finest English Folk Rock band in London this June night would be Kassi Valazza’s?
Opener was Sam Wilkinson – sporting a Kassi Valazza t-shirt and a 12 string acoustic, initially playing as a duo with Alex on the upright bass for a quite Nick Drake-y folk song. Later they were joined by two backing singers, shaking things up with a song about a rooster which had more than a touch of ‘Big River‘ about the tune, whilst ‘Why I Live In A Bungalow‘ was an atheists rejection of “the man upstairs” who picks and chooses who he’ll look after and was an interesting choice to sing in a church. He might not like god, but with his love of green spaces and sun or rain ‘My Heart Lives In The Country‘ showed yet another musical side to Wilkinson.
