Reflections of an ageing gig goer!

Zoe Wees and Persia Holder The Jazz Café Camden April 4 2024

Well, last night was my first concert of the year and I thought it might be fun to start an occasional series of posts looking at my various live music experiences as I head towards the time when I might be too old to do this anymore!

I went to this concert with my youngest daughter, Hana, who I hadn’t been to a gig with for quite a while, so it was a real treat for me. I don’t get many opportunities to go out for an evening with her as she’s very much in demand and our days out have revolved around football in recent years. Anyway, we were both looking forward to seeing Zoe Wees so when the night arrived I was determined to enjoy it.

When we arrived at the venue, it was already quite busy with just half an hour until the support act. It was a standing only venue downstairs which can be a bit difficult at times for me. It’s not so much the physical element, as I am still quite fit for my age, it’s more the dynamic of the crowd and the feeling of being hemmed in. Luckily, in this case, there was enough room for me to have my own space and guard it as much as possible during both sets. When I was at the nearby Electric Ballroom, for the exclusive Pet Shop Boys concert that I won a pair of tickets to, the crowd started pressing in on me both front and back. Janet, who stood on the terraces as a teenager, was quite used to it but I got panicky and we moved to the side of the main standing room where we got a decent view without the fear. Knowing that we would be standing for over 2 hours I just made sure I was as relaxed as possible and awaited the support act, Persia Holder.

I always like to listen to the support act, and whenever I have written reviews, I have included a review of support sets which I feel are often not given their due. Anyone who arrived late missed an excellent set from Persia Holder who has built up a large following on Tik Tok (which I’m far too old for!) mainly singing covers, and whose set was around half an hour long. First things first, what a voice! Soulful, powerful and note perfect it just exploded into the venue helped by the excellent acoustics. She had a lot to pack in during such a short set, but she managed to fill every minute with real quality. Part of Persia’s appeal were the personal reflections and the stories she told between each song, especially the story as to how she got the support slot on the tour. Apparently she covered one of Zoe Wees’ songs and Wees herself started following and commented on the cover saying how much she enjoyed it. The rest, as they say, is history! For me, three songs stick out, the day after, two original songs and one cover. The two original songs were Passionate and What’s the Worst That Could Happen? which had excellent lyrics that trod an expert line between sadness and defiance in the first case and showed a knowing humour in the second. The tunes were excellent while the singing was passionate and effective at conveying a whole range of emotions. The cover of Becky Hill’s Remember had pretty much the whole audience singing along as Persia brought out a more emotional rendering of the song by slowing it down slightly and delivering it with real gusto. By the end of the set I was looking for Persia Holder on Spotify, Twitter and Instagram, finally finding her on the last of those. Wherever and whenever you find her, and she is on YouTube as well, you’ll be glad you did, because Persia Holder is absolutely terrific and I will definitely be following her career with interest from now on.

The arrival of Zoe Wees at 9pm really lifted the roof off. I had started listening to her in 2022 and was familiar with a number of tracks on her Therapy album, which I thoroughly recommend by the way, but judging by a number of the audience I was nowhere near as familiar with her songs as I thought. She started off with the fantastic Sorry for the Drama which is a song about her childhood. Zoe was brought up by a single mother after her father walked out and as a result the family struggled financially as you would expect. This song is Zoe’s apology to her mum for the way she acted out, as a result of the reactions of those around her. It is beautifully written and absolutely heart breaking. If you want to listen to it click on this link as it will confirm what an incredible talent she is. This song is part of a trilogy with 21 Candles and Daddy’s Eyes all of which deal with the effect of her father’s absence. 21 Candles reflects on her birthdays every year which saw her make a wish for her father to come back, a wish she eventually realised would never come true. Daddy’s Eyes, which is my favourite of all her songs, and the most devastating to listen to, tells the story of the one meeting she had with her father. She is deeply upset by the meeting and hates the fact that her eyes look exactly the same as his. This is the type of song writing power that far more famous artists could only dream of and is a reason why I think Zoe Wees is a generational talent. Throughout the set, Wees was chatty, personable, revealing and clearly overjoyed to be on stage in front of such an appreciative audience. Quite apart from her incredible writing talent, she has a voice that is incredibly expressive and powerful with a bluesy edge that really worked in the confines of the Camden Jazz Club. The quality never dropped at any point and it was a great first gig of the year.

Next week I am going to the Royal Albert Hall to see James Blunt, a present for my wife whose favourite venue this is. Variety is the spice of life and this counts as variety indeed! I will report back in further reflections of an ageing gig goer!