Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

Watching Aldous Harding perform, it’s hard to know how much of what you’re seeing is a carefully constructed character and how much is her being her quirky, super talented self. And at Pacific Electric in Los Angeles on October 1, that question was part of the fascination. Her expressions, her stillness, the way she looked like she was troubled and floating on another plane, but then would come back to earth to deliver the good musical news—it gave us all a subtle theatricality to watch and wonder about. And always she would open her mouth, settle into her guitar, and be so completely in the pocket that the music was all that mattered. But also her weirdness is a draw. She’s unique and odd, which is honestly so very refreshing in this era of artist samey-ness.

Before Harding took the stage, we had an opening set from Sam Burton alongside two guests, Big Search and another fellow on a slide guitar, the three of them natural and earnest in front of the fans pressed up against the stage. Burton’s latest release is Fairweather Friend, and we got a nice selection of tracks from it. His music and performance have a 70s Laurel Canyon vibe, and he’s been compared to Neil Young and Tim Buckley, and has been praised in the press for his poetic songwriting. People in the crowd responded to him with lots of focused attention and applause, so he definitely finished the night with some new fans.

Aldous Harding took the stage a few minutes after nine, staring into yonder rafters, serious and focused. Touring behind her latest record, Train on the Island, Harding opened with its title track before moving into “I Ate the Most” and “One Stop.” The set gave the new material plenty of room alongside older songs including “Treasure,” “Passion Babe,” and “Leathery Whip.” Across the evening, her voice moved between whispers and full, confident delivery. She’s also a great wordsmith, with a knack for wordplay and phrasing that keeps everything layered and meaningful beyond her melodies. There seemed to be some Velvet Underground influence happening, tipped off by the John Cale reference in “One Stop,” and some other track title name odes.

Around and behind her, her band was made up of Harry Bohay on guitar, Mali Llywelyn on harp and keyboards, H. Hawkline on bass and guitar, and Gwion Llewelyn on drums and trumpet. There was a lot of playing along with her and a lot of not playing anything with her, and they were a well-oiled music machine.

The audience was really present and listening, too. I haven’t seen a crowd so pin-drop quiet in awhile, and not many people had phones out, so the gentler moments reached everyone without having to compete with background conversations, which was rare and nice.

Harding returned for an encore of “Zoo Eyes,” “Imagining My Man,” and “Designer,” bringing the night to a close with three more reasons to stay focused and rapt. This show closed out the North American leg of tour with the second of two nights back to back in Los Angeles, but will hop over to Australia and her native New Zealand in November for more dates. All information can be found at www.aldousharding.com.