Heather Findlay

House concert, Sussex

15 June 2024

Fritha, our host for the evening, tells us that this is Heather's first solo headline gig, and this seems impossible, but I've searched my memory (I haven't been to every one of her concerts, of course, but the number is approaching triple figures) and I'm unable to refute the claim. So, one more reason to be glad I made this frankly insane day-long journey involving three trains and several miles of walking to sit in someone's garden in the coldest, wettest June of recent memory, just to listen to someone sing.

Heather isn't just "someone", of course. And the garden is a beautiful space for an intimate, friendly concert. And the weather thankfully stays ... well, let's say "tolerable"! There is food, and drink, and good company, and a great atmosphere, and ice cream, and of course there's almost two hours of music from the best singer in the world today.

There is occasional noise from the nearby road and railway, but we're pretty well insulated from it by high walls, and the music is amplified just enough that it's not affected by it. Birdsong is a more obvious intrusion than the traffic, but it's a welcome intrusion as it adds to the atmosphere. There's no stage, Heather just stands inside the kitchen doorway (in case of rain), but the size and shape of the seating areas gives me a better, closer view than many theatre stages would allow. There are minimal lights on Heather, but it's more than enough when we finally lose the daylight and the atmosphere becomes dark and cozy.

And there's Heather. Seeming relaxed and happy, singing songs from across her whole career, and also reading poems from her recent books, and telling us the stories behind the songs' meanings. The Mostly Autumn and Odin Dragonfly songs are rearranged for one voice and guitar, obviously, and every arrangement works perfectly. There's a lot of recent material (though I think there's only one I've never heard before) and we learn that we have a solo album to look forward to, as well as the new Bee Tellers project she's been writing for. I'm not going to give a song-by-song account. If you know her, you can make pretty good guesses at what she included. I'm just going to pick one personal highlight: she finished with Shrinking Violet, the song that first made me fall in love with Heather 24 years ago.

Worth the insane journey? Silly question! Did I mention the ice cream?

Now I have a two-mile walk back to the place I'm staying the night, through pitch-black country lanes. And of course it's raining.

Still worth it.

Best concert I've ever seen. And you know I mean it.