Lucy Rose live in Switzerland
Kaya Strehler doesn’t know whether to be besotted with Lucy Rose’s serenading or to have a jealous tantrum:
I was recently whipped away for a delightful two-hour drive down to Geneva with the luring line of ‘It’s a surprise for your birthday!’ With no idea about the events of the evening I blindly followed until reaching the PTR (Usine).
When settled front and centre, lights went down and a stillness of anticipation calmed the punters. From the backlighted quasi darkness emerged this 60’s cherub doll sporting an ADIDAS-based outfit and as soon as I spotted the infamous fringe I knew. Sweet Jesus, I had been brought to a Lucy Rose mini-concert.
From start to finish we were all entranced. It’s rare to come across an artist who sounds so amazing live, so confident yet ambrosial. Only four shows into their tour, the band of five seemed gleeful with fresh energy and genuinely were so into the music. The set started with a solo acoustic number by Lucy Rose herself and the effortless control that she has over her voice just made everyone stop. It seemed like no-one even wanted to cough or take a gulp of their beers in fear of missing even a tiny sailing note leaving her mouth. The rest of the gig was mesmerizing to say the least. While I’m a massive fan of all of her recorded album Like I Used To, listening to her band come together so synchronized was a mind-blowing experience. Everyone on the stage was just gelling together and the audience seemed to be counting our lucky stars to be witnessing such a marvellous experience. I could only compare it to what I imagine it would feel like to see Bill Murray performing a rodeo on a unicorn. Fucking amazing on so many levels.
Every song showcased the unfair amount of talent this 23-year-old gal possesses (along with her band of course, snaps for the band). There were slow moments to her range as she matched her sweet chalky voice to her acoustic guitar and then KABLAMIE! the whole crew is just going nuts onstage, jamming out. There were punching drums, cowbells, cymbals and all, bold bass undertones, intricate guitar riffs, synthesizers and a bit of cello if I’m not mistaken.
What made the whole experience even more personable was the cutsie banter in between songs. I hate hate hate it when bands don’t say ANYTHING, not even a little ‘how y’all doing?’ Don’t get me wrong, we’re obviously there for the music but I mean come on. So there throughout the evening there was cheerful chatting about how all she could focus on in the crowd was the fluro earplugs that were bobbing around, how her bassist Simba was freaking out (in an excited way) about everything he saw on the drive down, and finally the endearingly awkward exchange we had about encores.
Lucy Rose. Unfairly talented musician that, if I didn’t love how she caressed my ears with her serenading, would totally hate in a jealous rage.
Words and picture by Kaya Strehler. Check out Lucy Rose’s tour dates on her website.
