14 December 2009
Photo by Anika
The less good things included finding seats in place - excellent for comfort, but bad for atmosphere in a room of no great charm which had far too many lights on... except on stage, where the backdrop carried films from TbT's time in Pakistan, so the lighting was kept deliberately low to assist the projection, which all but made silhouettes of the band. And unfortunately Laetitia Sadier, as a very solo support act was strange; almost discordant strumming seemingly not quite aligned with her vocals, and she usually needed to indicate when it was ok to applaud as most of her songs had false endings. Didn't really work.
However, the Taken by Trees set did really work, warming up nicely from a slightly low key beginning. The measured pace of the songs - a characteristic of Studio's Dan Lissvik's production work - was not adjusted for greater dynamic effect, but the instruments all stepped out of the shadows at different times, playing arrangements that were noticeably more animated than on the album. The drumming particularly came forward in the live setting, as did the harmonies from the 3-piece band, and whilst Victoria Bergsman didn't exactly grasp for the limelight in terms of projecting herself, her elegant vocals flirted with the melodic line without ever sliding too far away.
A gentle but involving show from the band, although the venue didn't really help the crowd enjoy themselves - maybe Bush Hall or the Union Chapel next time?
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