Even though the show was delayed by over a month, Heaven still was sold-out for the first of Haim‘s two dates in London. It’s a testament to their pulling power that when I turned up over two and a half hours before Haim’s stage-time, there was still a sizeable queue of people all vying to get in and take up their spot at the barrier. Several times before the show even kicked off I was told by the bouncer to ‘be careful‘ because it was going to be a ‘busy one‘.
Admittedly though when local singer-songerwriter Kimberly Anne opened proceedings, the crowd wasn’t as large as I had expected. Those that didn’t turn up ended up missing out though because she opened with an impassioned set that showcased her natural affinity for music. Although it was just her and her acoustic guitar, she still produced glittering, bright melodies with a strong vocal performance that retained its’ edge of delicate softness that conveyed the depth of emotions behind her writing. She also showed herself to be a natural performer, having an almost magnetic stage presence that ensured the audience was transfixed and her interaction with the crowd between songs was both witty and endearing. I’d definitely say she is one to watch out for in the future.
By the time Holy Esque took to the stage, Heaven was more towards the bustle I expected. After catching these guys at The Great Escape and finding myself impressed, I was hoping for a repeat performance. Turned out that with a more powerful soundsystem behind them, Holy Esque turned their set into a titan of sound– euphoric and bruising at once. The bass was truly colossal and thundered through the room and made sure to rattle your ribcage whilst the guitar and key combination constructed the sweeping rock melodies that made their tracks so compelling. Pat Hynes’ vocals still stunned in terms of their unique rocky warbling quality, but whilst I liked them– it is easy to see why others aren’t so keen.
The tone of the evening was already at a high quality when Haim themselves bounded on stage. Opening with ‘Better Off‘, it was obvious to see that there was a case of nerves on stage. It made for a slightly reserved start, which unfortunately was reflected on the slightly wobbly vocal harmonies, but as they settled in to the performance, these issues were all but lost. ‘The Wire‘ had a 80’s indie-meets-pop sound about it, with the inter-weaving guitars both being insatiably catchy and melodic whilst also retaining a spiky, punchiness about them. The interchanging vocal duties from Alana, Este and Danielle helped to reinforce the multifaceted sound whilst also allowing each of them to show their vocal capabilities which were staggeringly diverse and well-rounded.
It wasn’t just their vocals that were impressive. The sisters showed themselves to be talented musicians, none moreso than Alana who played drums, guitar and keys/percussion masterfully. Although their ‘jam’ seemed to serve no real purpose than to pad out the set, it still proved their fierce comprehension of music and had a rocky ferocity to it that certainly had to be appreciated. It also was stunning to watch how all three sisters naturally stayed in sync with one another; seemingly inherently knowing where they’d be on stage as well as musically– and I wondered how such synchronisation was possible, it was almost surreal.
Though it’s recorded counterpart has an element of tidiness and precision to it; it was nice to see a rougher and readier side to ‘Falling‘. With the guitars shredding to life and regaining more of a prominence, Danielle’s vocals also took more of a biting edge to them making it feel that bit rockier. It was Este and Alana’s vocal harmonies though that brought the soft, ethereal feeling back to the song and created an unintended juxtaposition that worked perfectly. ‘Go Slow‘ was a mesmerising a slow burn that showed tenderness and beauty, and turned out to be one of the highlights of the set.
Haim were visibly emotional as Este introduced the ‘reason why we’re here‘ with final track of the main set ‘Forever‘. There was no denying it was a crowd favourite given the reaction, with every single person in the room singing and dancing along. Even I can’t deny that it was infectious and showcased Haim at their very best; showing the depth of their talent whilst seemingly enjoying themselves.
Though the set was quite short (you can only expect so much when they haven’t got an album yet), Haim showed that there’s a lot to them both musically and performance-wise. They have the potential to not only charm the indie world but to dominate the charts; and mark my words– we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the near future.
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