FEIST (Shepherd's Bush Empire, 17/04/07)

Despite the humidity of the venue, the preponderance of atmosphere-sucking corporate knobheads in the audience and my hayfever-induced lack of sleep, Feist at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire was without a doubt one of the best gigs of the year so far. After a very entertaining opening set from Mayor McCa, a tap-dancing, kazoo-tooting one-band band, the Broken Social Scene songstress started her show with a beautifully ethereal track with a Bjorkish vibe, all vocoders and xylophones and piano. It was a fine, slightly left-field introduction to the world of Leslie Feist, and indicated that this wouldn’t be the two hours of meandering acoustic rambling that too often typifies the average “solo act”. As one would expect after three years of touring “Let It Die,” the set was very heavy on new material and it was great to see that it lived up to her considerable talent; a varied mix of piano-led balladry, gospel-infused rock and charming acoustic folk all showcasing her wonderfully versatile vocal skills. But it was the moments she went full pelt, her voice echoing from the rafters when she was at the top of her game, as completely enchanting as any singer I’ve ever seen. The set was rounded off with a great rendition of Mushaboom that was only slightly marred by the lack of reaction from a miserable crowd (kudos to the girls who actually got up to dance)- it’ll be interesting to see if Camera Obscura can top her tonight.