Emmy The Great

The culmination of her UK tour saw Emmy The Great hit University of London Union in central London on a Friday night in late February. "Its been a long month", exclaims Emmy, tired, fatigued, but on superb form. "Well, a short month, as its February", she corrects herself. ULU, a student Union, is packed to the rafters. People of varying ages are scrambling to get a look at this new and exciting artist. Scenesters, usually associated with bands such as the the Cribs integrate with an older generation, more likely to have been adoring sixties legends than a twenty something London based girl in 2009.

Emmy the Great

So it's fair to say that tonight there is a real mixed bag in the crowd. But it is with hushed silence in unison that they all greet opener 'The Easter Parade'. Its moody, fluent and somewhat beautiful, finishing with a reassuring "there are no such things as ghosts". With that a really strong performance starts to unfold.

It is a wonder why the album, '' has thus far been relatively overlooked. Maybe its the fact that it coincided with another, more well known London female artists album release, who appears on the front cover of Heat most weeks. Its clear tonight though, that that should by no means be a stumbling block. 'Dylan', 'MIA', and in particular, new single 'First Love' are brilliant and should not be ignored. The latter is a real highlight. An ode to Leonard Cohen, she sings "hallelujah, hallelujah and the sky was so much bluer", and reminds us that its "the original Leonard Cohen version" that she listens to.

There's a delightful air of self confidence about this unique artist. An excellent guitarist and blessed with an awe-inspiring voice, she is backed up by a very gifted and complimentary 4 piece band complete with violinist, pianist and banjo player. It completes a strong and tight folk sound that goes hand in hand with her reputation within the anti-folk movement. Its very reminiscent of Conor Oberst but a female version originally from Hong Kong as opposed to a male artist from Nebraska.

Clearly exhausted by the endless touring recently, there is uncharateristically little banter between songs. The songs, however do not suffer and another highlight of the evening comes in the form of a cover of the brilliant 'End of the World' by Skeeter Davis. Finishing with 'Everything Reminds Me of You', Emmy leaves the stage and returns for a three song encore. She wraps the gig up with 'Edward is Deadwood', and the crowd, both young and old are sold.

Lets hope that she starts to get the recognition she really deserves.

Emmy The Great? On evidence tonight, she is much better than that.

Setlist:
Easter Parade
We almost had a Baby
First Love
War
Hypno Song
Short Country Song
Museum Island
Bowl Collecting Blood
MIA
City Song
End of the World
Lost in Austin
Dylan
Absentee
We are Safe Everything Reminds Me Of You

Encore:
Canopies and Grapes
Two Steps Forward
Edward is Deadwood

Emmy the Great

article by: Joe Mercer

photos by: Chris Mathews

published: 03/03/2009 10:20

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.

more about Emmy the Great
more about Exlovers
more about University of London Union (ULU), Camden

University of London Union (ULU), London on Fri 27th Feb 2009

Search eGigs.co.uk

Latest Tourdates