“Clara Mann is going places”: London show review
A little over a month after releasing her debut album Rift, “almost-folk” artist and London’s no-longer hidden gem Clara Mann embarked on a small tour around the UK, including a sold out show at Stoke Newington’s Old Church. Supported and accompanied by fiddle player Owen Spafford, the pair delivered a short but incredibly sweet set to a breathless audience.
Spafford led solo, giving himself entirely to the performance to the point of breaking a few hairs on the fiddle bow. A few nods of familiarity came from the audience at the introduction of a song inspired by a Leeds ice cream van - and those less familiar more than made up for it with enthusiasm, some devoted front-row crowd members banging their heads through the passionate string music.
Mann herself followed soon after, opening with Rift’s lead track. The usually sparse and acoustic guitar-oriented It Only Hurts reached new heights with the inclusion of the violin, and indeed this can be applied to the great majority of her set. It’s hard not to use the word release when speaking of Rift - the record tackles heartbreak but there is an underlying feeling of faith in the future. It shines in her performance of this song, the rise and fall of Spafford’s accompaniment feeling like a deep breath in and out, with Mann’s vocals echoing around the church.
Most of the setlist was a dance up and down the album, including fourth single Driving Home The Long Way, however a somewhat surprise rendition of jauntier folk song 500 Miles ended up being a real crowd pleaser, earning a remark from Mann that this may be the closest she’s ever gotten to a mosh pit at one of her shows.
After the ever-heartbreaking Doubled Over, Spafford left Mann solo to sing Rift’s final track The Dream on a keyboard to the side of the stage. Despite being physically further away, her voice drew the audience ever closer, the dimly lit conditions she recorded the song in seeming to influence the live performance.
After an undoubtedly enthusiastic beg for an encore, the show ended with a callback to Mann’s second EP Stay Open as she gave her all to Confessions, ending with the final hopeful lyric “If the storm comes in for us, then we can walk each other home”.
With an upcoming live performance at the much larger Queen Elizabeth Hall, it is clear that Clara Mann is going places. Those lucky enough to bear witness to this extremely intimate performance will, without a doubt, treasure the memory forever.
Photography by Theodora Fazekas