After my recent interview with Little Dragon's bassist Fred here, I was really looking forward to this show. I was intrigued to see what they would bring to the table. They're so versatile and skilled that they could have taken it in literally any direction they wanted. All I knew was that it was going to be great...
Their support act Nao (pronounced Nay-Oh) stepped on stage with this fiery energy, I was just blown away from the start. She reminded me a little of a slightly sassier Ego Ella May. But oh my goodness what a performance! I'd go and watch a whole headline show with just her to be honest. Because her songs were so feisty and powerful, I was shocked when she started speaking and her voice was so soft spoken and sweet. Either way, her songs were awesome, particularly lyrically and she is a performer! I felt like she really had an alter ego stage presence when she was performing. I look forward to hearing more from her very soon. Get your hands on her EP So Good here - you will not regret it.
Then, Little Dragon. I just have to start by saying that their setlist was absolutely perfect. Beginning to end it just flowed so beautifully. Yukimi is a fireball! Girl can dance! Her voice actually might have sounded even better live than on record. Also, she is one of the only (if not the only) artists I've seen that can and will hit every note that she does on record, live. Even Beyoncé, will sometimes switch up a tough note on the record for a slightly more 'comfortable to hit' note live. So the fact that Yukimi was hitting all these tough notes was not a small thing. There were notes that I was literally waiting for her to alter or maybe give to the crowd to sing but she never did. Brilliant. As a band, they play so comfortably together. There were a few points where it just seemed like they forgot that the crowd was even there, they were just doing their own thing. Everything and everyone just seemed to click. Cohesive. Their talent was enhanced by the fact that they made things seem so effortless. As much as I hate focusing solely on the lead singer, Yukimi genuinely took the whole show to the next level. She found a way to harness everyone's awesomeness and present it to the audience in a neat package. Brava! One of the best musical performances I've seen all year, hands down. Little Dragon are a blessing to watch.
Ending their set with "Twice" made my night. That song is genius. Some stand out tracks were "Shuffle A Dream", "Underbart", "Please Turn" and of course "Klapp Klapp" but if I'm honest, everything was fantastic. I'd happily go and see them 3, 4 or 10 more times.
Overall Rating - 9/10
Here are some pictures from the night...
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