Concert Review – Patty Griffin at Union Chapel
Aah, the sublime Patty Griffin!
I had been waiting months for this concert and it did not disappoint. In the ethereal surroundings of Union Chapel in London, Patty’s voice roared and soared as if inspired by the location, then whispered as if in in reverence. The playlist was a demonstration of just how versatile a writer and interpreter Patty is, moving from Gospel (‘Coming home to me’, ‘Up to the mountain’), to folk (‘Irish Boy’), to lullaby (‘Gonna miss you when you’re gone’, to hard rock (‘Flaming Red’, ‘No bad news’) and everything in between
The lion’s share came from the new album ‘American Kid’, as might have been expected and a lot of my Patty favourites were not included, but that did not matter – with musicianship of this high order you just go with what you are offered, and enjoy! A word of praise for David Pulkingham, who produced sounds from his three guitars (two acoustic, one electric) to totally complement each track and to perfection as well. He is an awesome talent, and a great harmony singer too – his voice on ‘Ohio’ substantially made up for the absence of Robert Plant, who sings on the album version. Patty herself is no mean guitarist and rocked out with a beautiful lick on the aforementioned ‘No bad news’
Highlights? – a few stood out. An impassioned ‘Wherever you wanna go’ – the death of her father which drove ‘American Kid’ was a theme throughout the evening, ‘Top of the world’ – probably her most-covered song and ‘Waiting for my child’ which kickstarted the show and almost brought the house down before she had begun.
Tickets already on order for her return in November as part of the London Jazz Festival – just can’t get enough of that voice! An excellent evening.