Laura Marling – The Powerstation

When Laura Marling first performed in Auckland, as part of the January 2012 Laneway Festival, she looked and sounded like a classic English folk singer, dressed in jeans and a red jumper, strumming an acoustic guitar sporting long blonde hair and backed by a band featuring banjo, mandolin and cello. For her first “proper” Auckland show at The Powerstation, she was a very different performer.

The evening began with a short, sweet set from Tiny Ruins. For this evening it was just Hollie Fullbrook and her acoustic guitar, although Tom Healy showed up halfway through the 30 minute set to add some tasty electric guitar.

The main event got underway just after 9:30 as Laura Marling took the stage accompanied by drummer Matt Ingram and bass player Nick Pini. Initially, Matt and Nick were engulfed in darkness so that their presence only became apparent as the lights were raised and their playing got louder.

Meanwhile Marling herself was a commanding presence with her short-cropped icy-blonde hair matched with her black outfit. She/they opened with the suite of songs that kicks off Once I Was An Eagle, her stunning 2013 release. The four songs…Take The Night Off, I Was An Eagle, You Know and Breathe blend seamlessly into one. Marling’s delivery was spine-chilling while Pini played double bass and Ingram added sporadic percussion. For me, this is Marling’s most exciting set of songs and it was great to hear them performed live.

After the song suite, Laura addressed the crowd, and one fan shouted back, “We think you’re lovely!” To which Marling coyly responded, “You clearly don’t know me well enough.”

Pini then strapped on his electric bass and they launched into Short Movie, the title track from her most recent album. Despite the fact that this tour is to support the new album, they only played three tracks from it, with How Can I closing the show.

Along the way Marling touched on each of her five long players including the title track from her 2008 debut, Alas I Cannot Swim, apologizing after she sang it saying she was 17 when she wrote it.

This was followed by two covers….Bert Jansch’s Courting Blue…very much in the English folk tradition, and Dolly Parton’s Do I Ever Cross Your Mind, which was delivered beautifully.

After the Parton song, Matt Ingram broke up the somewhat reserved mood by telling a story of receiving a haircut from a drunk barber before playing I Feel Your Love, from Short Movie.

Marling warned the crowd that there would be no traditional encore…”We’re too English to do encores”, and observed, “You’re a fun crowd destined for good things”, before wrapping up the show with Rambling Man and How Can I.

While Marling can come off as a bit austere, a bit distanced, her performance, and that of her bandmates was impeccable.

And with a wine glass raised to the audience, she exited the stage, leaving her fans to absorb what they had just seen.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

Laura Marling set list:

1. Take The Night Off
2. I Was An Eagle
3. You Know
4. Breathe
5. Short Movie
6. Master Hunter
7. Night After Night
8. What He Wrote
9. Alpha Shallows
10. Alas, I Cannot Swim
11. Courting Blues
12. Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
13. I Feel Your Love
14. Salinas
15. Sophia
16. Once
17. Rambling Man
18. How Can I