Anna Phoebe

St. Pancras Old Church, London

21 June 2024

This is the first time I've seen Anna Phoebe in a completely solo show, but I didn't realise that it's also her first solo tour. I've known her for so long through various other projects that I just assumed she must have done this before, but apparently not.

First a quick word about the support act, ILĀ, a vocalist I have have never heard of before, with an extraordinary voice soaring over complex electronic sound manipulations. A great fit for the style of music Anna Phoebe would play tonight.

So, I wasn't really sure what to expect from the solo format. I assumed she would play the music from her solo album, and maybe some from her duo AVA, rearaanged for solo violin. Though I was also thinking she might play something completely improvised, similar to the set I saw her play with Richard Bundy two years ago. (Two years? Good grief.)

Well no, she didn't do anything like that. She didn't even start with a violin: the first piece was played on viola. And though the majority of the set was played on violin or electric violin, she also plays a keyboard. At one point, she is playing the keyboard and two violins basically all at the same time. And there's a big electronic component to the music, with backing tracks, and I think triggered samples and percussion, and looping of the violin lines. It's a remarkable, full, dense, sound, amplified to a perfect level to fill the venue. And pretty much everything was new to me. I think I recognised one thing that may have been from her album, but I couldn't reliably swear to that. But it doesn't matter if music of this nature is completely unfamiliar; its power, and melody, and dynamics just sweep you along with it, and you can appreciate it in the moment without caring about what it's called or where it's from.

She doesn't introduce any of the pieces, she just segues from one to the next with often not even a break to acknowledge the applause of the hugely enthusiastic crowd. She saves all her speaking for the end, when she tells us all to sit down after the standing ovation, while she thanks everyone in her life (most of whom seem to be in the audience tonight), and seems genuinely overwhelmed by the reception.

Extraordinary concert. Not what I was expecting, but actually surpassing what I was expecting.