Iamthemorning

St Matthias Church, London

1 November 2024

It's economically very tough for small bands to tour these days, and Iamthemorning have had their own unique set of problems on top of the general economic pressures. So if it feels like years since they've attempted to put on any kind of headlining show, that's because it literally is. So although there have been a handful of support roles with other bands, this is the first time I've seen them with headline billing since 2019. And by complete coincidence, as I noticed while I was checking that date, it's nine years to the day since the first time I ever saw them live.

But enough history, let's talk about tonight. Or technically last night, as I write this in the early hours of Saturday morning. St Matthias church is an unconventional choice of venue for a rock concert. It's way out in Stoke Newington, which is a stress-inducing bus ride out of central London, and it's, well, it's a church. Not a church-converted-to-venue, but an actual working Catholic church. And it's absolutely beautiful inside. The architecture is mid-Victorian gothic, with big solid pillars, and a high roof with beautiful painted decoration. And it's huge, much larger than I expected, and quite comfortably filled by a pretty big audience. The band are set up on the floor (no raised stage) in front of the pews, and there's plenty of space for them—did I mention how big the church is? They supplement the natural decoration of the church with vegetation and fairy lights wrapped around every possible piece of equipment, and they have a stunning light show which again makes full use of the space and the architecture to cast a variety of moods over the "stage". Look, when they release the DVD of the show it's going to be worth buying just to see the beauty of the setting.

And I forgot to mention: there's a grand piano. Off to the side, but still dominating the space, a grand piano. That's the most unexpected but most welcome sight of the night.

The downsides of the church seating are: first, pews are unbearably uncomfortable; and second, there's no raised stage so sight lines aren't perfect. But I'm in a good place: I arrived early (the sounds of Sleeping Beauty being soundchecked were seeping through the closed doors) so I was only six people back in the queue, and I was able to pick a spot in the first few rows with a good view of the front.

Let's talk about the support acts. First was Marjana Semkina. Yes, honestly, Marjana opened the show, doing something that probably none of us (including Marjana) thought would ever be possible: playing material from her new solo album, with a full band (guitar, drums, keyboard) backing her. She sings for about 40 minutes, mixing a good chunk of the new album with a few tracks from her previous album and EP. And it's a flawless performance, perfectly capturing the intricacies of the music but with an added boost from the power of the rock-level amplification. Of course she can't do her trademark multi-tracked vocal live, but there's some clever electronic chorusing or delay effect on her voice which does a good simulation of the album's multi-tracking. I notice it most prominently in Disillusioned, where I'm convinced there is more than one of her on the stage, and in my personal favourite performance of the evening, Anything But Sleep, where she sings both the male and the female parts herself.

Marjana doesn't speak a great deal, and she doesn't move as much as usual (though this may be due to her needing to play guitar for most of the set). But she sounds happy and comfortable (even though she claims to be very nervous). As a live band debut, I don't see how this could have gone any better. The band is tight, the sound is powerful and clear, the songs are beautiful, and Marjana is perfect. Best support act I've ever seen.

The house lights don't come back on, suggesting the second support act will come straight on, and after a few minutes, without any announcement, Gleb Kolyadin sits at the grand piano and begins playing, catching out a lot of people who thought it was safe to leave their seats. He sits and plays, solo, for at least 30 solid minutes, and it's just a jaw-dropping performance. Rather than try to recreate the music from his solo album with a band backing him, he appears to just improvise his entire set. I can hear familiar melodies from his albums at certain points, but they are surrounded and linked by variations and sections that are completely new to me. And it's a masterclass in how to hold your audience's rapt attention with one extended piece of solo instrumental music. There are so many shifts of mood and dynamics. I am in awe of his compositional powers. It's very, very rare for a piece of solo instrumental music to bring me to tears, but Gleb manages it.

Again the house lights stay off, there is no interval (they are trying to cram a lot into the evening), and Iamthemorning come on and launch into the familiar opening of Scotland, and I'm transported back 9+ years to when I first discovered them and declared them the best new band of the millennium. They still are. Hearing them together immediately on top of their solo sets, you can more vividly understand what each of them brings to the band, and at the same time, much as I love their solo work, you can see that together they are greater than the sum of their parts. Iamthemorning's songs are just perfect, and tonight we get an hour of their "greatest hits", which covers almost everything I would have asked for.

They are backed by a familiar band—Marjana's band from earlier, with her keyboard player (I'm sorry I didn't catch his name) now playing bass guitar (six-string, I believe). Evan brings his versatile and inventive percussion, and Liam on guitar adds shredding metal solos or delicate, intricate picking, as the song requires. All the instrumentalists get moments to shine, but they're all there to perfectly complement the lead instrument: Gleb's piano.

And Marjana, perhaps no longer nervous, and no longer needing to play guitar, is back to her old, energetic self: skipping and dancing around the stage, and making full use of the space to stroll up and down the nave while singing, or placing herself at the edge of the lit area to cast dramatic lighting effects on herself. She's in full command of the stage, and more importantly she's in full command of her voice, which is one the most unique and perfectly beautiful instruments you will ever hear on a stage.

You can tell they are tight for time. Marjana's introductions, though always engaging and amusing, are briefer than usual, and Gleb sticks to the songs without indulging in long solo intros and outros. But this means they cram a lot of songs into the brief hour, and it feels like a full and satisfying set. I wish they had played a full two-hour "proper" headlining set, of course I do. But given the choice between that and a shorter set with two unique and perfect solo sets in support? I'll choose what we got tonight every time. Tonight was just perfect.

Marjana hates it when I say this, but I have to be honest and say what I feel in my heart at this moment: that was the best concert I have ever seen. And if you can't tell that's the genuine truth from what I've just spent two hours writing, then I'm sorry, I have failed as a writer. But believe this is true: I love this band, and I will follow them forever as long as they keep making beauty like I witnessed tonight.