Support for this show is from ‘Fawn UK’, part, it would appear, of York’s hip crowd. Her teenage vigour makes me feel old; reading lyrics from an iphone for a new song rather than a fag packet makes me realise I am. Her voice seems to come from somewhere else, like it floated in through an open window. Her ear for a good lyric is great too, “You made me a sandwich, you know I won’t eat”, hints at life experience beyond her years – going to watch her career with interest.
The Basement Bar of York’s art cinema is no place for drums normally but de Bastion, looking like a Mary Quant model, and her hyper cool beat group band make it feel like the Cavern in ’64-’65. Charismatic, charming, she opens her mouth and you’re hooked, wobbly lyrics beguile you, modern day Greenwich Village folk.
Train Tracks, an ode to a love of the road, of travel, of not staying still, and of the UK being part of Europe draws some enthusiastic support. Wasteland, about the gentrification of her home town, Berlin, with even a David Hasslehoff campaign against it, shows her skill as a musical storyteller. I especially love the switch to piano for 2-3 tunes and the set’s big finish. de Bastion is a star in waiting, and this crowd is early to the party.
