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Guest review by Simon Darnley
Hackney Church
Lower Clapton Road. London, E5 OPD
This gig was set in this beautiful historic church in Hackney with its stark white decor, stunning sound system and looming Church organ recently transformed into a "Cathedral of Creativity” with National Heritage lottery funding.
John entered cloaked like a modern-day Vangelis with multiple keyboards, Synths and samplers along with live drums, bass and guitar to recent single “All that school for nothing”. A song he wrote for and rejected by Blondie, with infectious electro dance instrumentation and rebellious humorous lyrics provided an upbeat start to an electro voyage ahead of us.
The initial first section of songs including "Black Belt", "Marz" and "It's a Bitch" was abundant with phat electro instrumentation, fretless bass and guitar mixed with his honeyed silky voice.
"Daddy" was accompanied by all-encompassing sea soundscapes, waves and military drums that perfectly matched the lyrics “You're like the waves crashing on the beach that morning, Daddy, you are majestic, would you betray me? Would you hurt me?"
A middle section saw John alone at the piano, playing to a hushed crowd allowed us to really hear his honeyed silky voice sing about family, politics and homophobia with songs including "Glacier" and "Pale Green Ghosts".
His multitalented band then returned to join him in returned to “Father” using autotune to make his voice sound like early 80s Laurie Anderson (Superman) before more newer songs like "Meek AF" and "The Child Catcher".
Finishing with a classic speeded-up "Chicken Bones", a crowd favourite. John then returned for encores of "Laura Lou" and his best known and magnificent "GMF" which had the whole church belting out the chorus.
I am a John Grant Fanboy; I never tire of "Queen of Denmark" or "Pale Green Ghosts" and constantly find new and onion peeling levels in all his subsequent albums. Listen to “He’s got his Mothers hips” from the so underrated Love is Magic. John is one of the most talented and imaginative songwriters out there, never afraid to share his personal trauma and experiences in a sophisticated, imaginative and humorous fashion. Tonight, seeing John Grant live this unpretentious and talented performer took us on a roller coaster of sound and emotions. Magic. A pleasure to review John Grant live.
I also want to give a shout out to Big Special, a two-piece from Birmingham who provided the support. The DIY post punk duo with Callum Molony on drums and Joe Hicklin's bluesy Tom Waits type voice were a delight. Black Dog/White Horse is an instant classic, and I recommend checking out their debut album Postindustrial Hometown Blues.
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