Live Review: VanWyck + Alex Lipinski + The Miller Sessions, Paper Vintage Dress, London – 19th December 2024

pic Brian Hancill

Two years and two albums after her last UK show, Dutch singer-songwriter VanWyck drove over to London via a car ferry and gave an intense and powerful performance at an oddly named venue called Paper Vintage Dress. This is a small upstairs room close to Hackney Central station and the name makes more sense when you walk through the door and realise that the bar downstairs is actually a clothes shop in the daytime (“Vintage garments, shoes and accessories from 1900-80”). On gig nights the dress rails are pushed behind a curtain to make way for a scattering of tables and a desk where tickets are checked and hands are stamped. The vibe is friendly and welcoming.

I was the first punter to arrive on this cold December night so I had a chat with Chris Carr, who was promoting the show. Like me, he became a VanWyck fan after hearing a single track on Spotify then discovering her catalogue of beautiful songs. Upstairs I found a live music room with seriously good sound and a warm ambience enhanced by an old-fashioned glitter ball. These days I usually avoid standing-up gigs due to a health issue but Chris was kind enough to find me a stool. And there was no problem seeing over people’s heads because, sadly, the crowd was sparse – only 30-odd souls in a hall that could hold a hundred or more.

VanWyck and her two sidemen watched the opening acts from the floor before launching their own 10 song set with ‘The Swell’, a slow and haunting number recorded for this year’s “Dust Chaser” album with just a tremolo guitar and understated organ. This was the perfect way to ease in the stripped-down line-up of Henk Hulzebosch on keys and Stefan Wolfs on a Gibson SG. It was Stefan’s first VanWyck show and he’ll stay with her for a full-band theatre tour of Holland in the New Year. ‘Flowers in the Fields’ must have been more of a challenge because it’s highly percussive on record, but these intuitive players had no trouble conjuring up an equally driving arrangement. The single ‘Desert Bride’ completed an opening salvo of three numbers from “Dust Chaser” which came out in late September.

pic: Iain Robertson

The set list dipped into previous albums for ‘I Was Innocent’, ‘Lead Me On’ and ‘Maybe, Maybe Not.’ “My favourite!” I called out as ‘Lead Me On‘ was announced. “Your favourite? “said VanWyck from the stage. “Well, I’ve got a special version for you tonight – the first time with harmonies sung by these two guys.” Happy to report that they did it proud. They switched back to “Dust Chaser” playing its title track followed by the song that, for me, is the album’s most addictive moment. With an infectious melody propelled by Memphis soul guitar licks and funky electric piano, ‘Towards The Sun’ would be a huge hit in any just and proper world. In previous decades, BBC Radio 2 DJs such as Terry Wogan or Ken Bruce might have picked up on this song or ‘Lead Me On‘, and encouraged Middle England to fall in love with them. These days Radio 2 seems too busy trying to attract Robbie Williams and Ed Sheeran fans.

For the end of the show VanWyck cooled things down with ‘Like An Ambush‘, a quietly reflective song from 2019’s “Molten Rock” album, before bowing out with the insistent riffing and hypnotic chorus of ‘Unleash’, another highlight from “Dust Chaser”. Everyone present would have loved an encore but it was difficult for such a small audience to generate the necessary noise and, in any event, the lights came on too quickly. I found out later that we were running too close to the venue’s 11pm curfew.

Zooming back to 8.30pm, the show was opened by a Norwegian singer-songwriter called Espen Langbråte, who performed solo under his nom-de-guerre The Miller Sessions. That’s because his current project involves creating songs from the words of a long-forgotten American poet (Joaquin Miller, 1837-1913). The results emerged on an album called “The Poet” in 2023. Espen has a warm and witty stage presence (“I’m aware I sound like the Swedish Chef,” he said) and you don’t often hear words like “repine” (look it up – I had to) and “betide” in Americana-type tunes. He was playing a beautiful bright orange Gretsch semi-acoustic. “Is that the Eddie Cochran model?” I asked him afterwards. “I wish,” he replied. “Mine was much cheaper!”

pic: Brian Hancill

Next came Alex Lipinski. He sometimes plays with a band called The Crown Electric but for this show he sang solo with his left-handed Gibson Hummingbird. Somerset-born Alex has a seriously impressive voice; powerful but beautifully controlled and full of character. His song ‘Coyote’ was my favourite on the night, and when I checked him out afterwards I loved a song called ‘Shelter’ even more. Both are from his 2022 album “For Everything Under The Sun”, which is well worth a listen. It also includes a gentle acoustic ballad called ‘Hummingbird’ (which does not appear to be about his guitar!)

Pic: Iain Robertson

This was my second VanWyck show so far. I flew to Amsterdam to see her in 2022 soon after that moment of discovery on Spotify, and I’m going there again for a full-band show in February. I honestly can’t think of another artist I would go to such lengths for. She’s a firm favourite on this website and I just wish more of the world would wake up and realise what an exceptional artist she is.

About Brian Hancill 8 Articles
Retired sub-editor who worked at the Mirror for many years, followed by a stint at The Spectator. Music obsessive since I heard the Beatles aged seven in 1963. Turned on to country and Americana around the turn of the millennium by Bob Harris's Radio 2 shows.
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Jonathan Aird

What a great review – and completely agree with your last comment.

Now I’m even more annoyed I couldn’t make it (I had bought a ticket, though!).