Darlingside in London at Lafayette
Written and Captured By | Polly Swann
The intimate atmosphere at the Lafayette, a stone’s throw from Kings Cross Station, provided the perfect surroundings for a glorious evening of folk (or ‘indie-folk’) music.
Opening act Memorial got us off to a fine start as the Brighton-based duo of Jack Watts and Oliver Spalding brought some inspired songs to the packed out venue. Their vocal harmonies put us in mind of Simon and Garfunkel and they showcased their songwriting talent with many songs drawn from their 2022 self-titled album and their latest release, ‘Corduroy’. Memorial are definitely an act to watch, and we look forward to seeing the reaction to the new album.
See more photos of Memorial HERE
After a short break and some sound checking, Boston natives Darlingside were given a rapturous welcome by the Lafayette crowd. And what a show they put on!
Describing themselves as ‘indie-folk’ doesn’t do them justice, as they also bring a pop sensibility to their music and live performance. The 4-piece showed us their virtuosity as multi-instrumentalists, and the set included multiple instrument changes, from guitar to banjo for Don Mitchell, mandolin to violin for Auyon Mukharaji and guitar to cello for Harris Paseltiner. Percussionist David Senft added a fourth vocal line to make this band sound bigger and fuller than their number would suggest.
Kicking off the set with ‘Green Light’ from last year’s ‘Everything is Alive’ album was a good start, and they soon had the audience entranced and cheering enthusiastically.
See more photos of Darlingside HERE
‘Everything is Alive’ dominated the set, with six of the 18 songs coming from the album, including ‘Darkening Hour’, ‘Right Friend’ and an incredible, intimate rendition of ‘’The Breaking of the Day’, which followed ‘Denver’ from 2020’s ‘Fish Pond Fish’. Both songs saw the band come down from the stage into the audience, who formed a circle around them whilst they played. This has become a signature feature of their shows, and connects them with their fans in an intimate and truly special way.
We were treated to a career-spanning set, including ‘The Ancestor’ from 2012s debut album ‘Pilot Machine’.
‘Eliza I See’ and 2015’s ‘Birds Say’ closed the main set before they returned for a well deserved encore of ‘Extralife’ and ‘Ocean Bed’
Darlingside head back to the USA and will play shows in April and May. We can’t wait to see them back here sometime soon.
Photos By | Polly Swann