{"id":24421,"date":"2016-11-26T18:30:49","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T18:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=24421"},"modified":"2016-11-28T23:06:10","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T23:06:10","slug":"preaching-to-the-converted-kristin-hersh-beguiles-with-intimate-set-at-st-john-on-bethnal-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2016\/11\/preaching-to-the-converted-kristin-hersh-beguiles-with-intimate-set-at-st-john-on-bethnal-green\/","title":{"rendered":"PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED \u2013 Kristin Hersh Beguiles With Intimate Set At St John on Bethnal Green"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Picture
Picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kristin Hersh<\/strong> is an artist who inspires religious devotion on behalf\u00a0of her fans, so what more appropriate venue for her than a church.<\/h4>\n

We gathered like pilgrims in the pews of St John on Bethnal Green, as the Throwing Muses frontwoman\u00a0delivered a solo sermon, replete with tales of spectres, prostitutes, drunks and sultry New Orleans nights.<\/h4>\n

Entitled ‘An Evening With\u2026.’<\/strong>\u00a0this was a performance in the raw, Hersh alone on stage with just a guitar for company.<\/p>\n

Seated throughout, Hersh opted to punctuate her songs with prose readings from the books that have accompanied her recent solo releases.<\/p>\n

A risky tactic, but – while there was some restlessness among the congregation during the longer recitals – most were greeted with engrossed silence, broken only by the occasional cheer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so silent in here \u2013 it\u2019s like a church,\u201d Hersh added drolly at one point.<\/p>\n

Opening with what became a running gag about being told we’d hate her for playing new songs, Hersh went on to perform several cuts from her latest double album Wyatt At The Coyote Palace <\/em><\/strong>(reviewed by EP here<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Detox <\/em><\/strong>was delivered with a prose prologue\u00a0about making gallons of gazpacho soup for the local working girls, complete with a hint on where to find the recipe!<\/p>\n

\"Picture
Picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the brilliant Tennessee Williams<\/strong>-style imagery of Between Piety and Desire<\/em> <\/strong>came with a confession that it was inspired by streets with the same names where she lived in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have to stretch too far for that metaphor,\u201d she admitted, with a laugh.<\/p>\n

There was room for old favourites too, notably Your Ghost <\/em><\/strong>from 1994\u2019s Hips and Makers <\/em><\/strong>LP<\/em>, originally released as a duet with REM<\/strong>\u2019s Michael Stipe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Apart from the odd self-deprecating aside, ad-libbing was kept to a minimum, with Hersh letting her rich, warm, husky vocals and fluid, sinuous guitar-playing fill the hall.<\/p>\n

She\u00a0looked small on stage, dwarfed by high ceilings with a\u00a0statue looming behind her, but her voice was big, confident and clear.<\/p>\n

It was strangely hypnotic to watch the fingers of her left-hand dance across the fretboard, while her right belted out a steady rhythm.<\/p>\n

After a single encore she was gone, leaving as she had arrived with little fanfare, just a short half turn and wave goodbye to the faithful.<\/p>\n

A delightful and assured\u00a0performance from one of alternative rock\u2019s true originals.<\/p>\n

\"All
All pictures by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n