There are artists that play in venues that just make sense. Where a building and a place becomes one with the artist playing there. That’s exactly how I feel whenever Laura Marling plays Albert Hall in Manchester. Something happens in the beautiful church like architecture, the relatively small stage setup allowing this central figure to capture the attention of thousands of adoring and crucially silent fans. You can hear a pin drop as Laura plays at a venue where I’ve been in plenty of rowdy crowds and it’s magic.
Laura clearly agrees as this is the fourth time I’ve seen her perform at Albert Hall and making it just the fourth venue on her brief set of residencies shows just how special a venue it is to her. That residency began last November in the stunning Hackney Church, naturally round the corner from her house, and honestly I had thought it would be years before we got to witness Laura Marling’s talent up North again. I am so thankful she made the trip for these three stunning shows.
I said in my review of the Patterns in Repeat album that it felt like a truly reflective album that sees Laura Marling looking back on her life and her space as an artist and how things are the same, but also very different and this show captures that spirit so perfectly. The almost cold open of the Once I Was An Eagle suite remains maybe the most affecting performance I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness multiple times and last night it was made even more poignant by the mild surprise of a very pregnant Laura Marling emerging to perform it. The instant spine tingling emotion that comes through in that music is something that defines all of her gigs and was here in spades throughout.
Opening with a run of songs from her whole back catalogue, the centrepiece of the Semper Femina album, ‘Nouel’, or one of her earliest records ‘Tap At My Window’ these songs feel renewed with her recent confidence heard on Song For Our Daughter and Patterns in Repeat and given how many songs from that previous album she performed in this show the links between those records are heard so clearly. ‘Fortune’ and ‘Song For Our Daughter’ are full of new emotion when sung to her child, while ‘The End of the Affair’ remains one of the most devastating songs of her career.
The setlist of the show allowed for this reflection and revisiting of key moments of her career to bookend the Patterns in Repeat album played in full with an accompanying string section and choir. It allowed the show to have the starkness and powerful emotion of Laura and her Guitar solo, but also the expansive sound she captures on her albums. It makes me feel like she needs to bring string section every time as they beautifully accompanied songs like ‘The Shadows’, ‘Patterns’ and ‘Your Girl’. I personally love hearing an artist feel comfortable enough to perform an album in full as it brings out the intention of the record itself, of course it helps that Patterns In Repeat was one of the best albums of 2024 as well.
‘Caroline’ and specifically Laura Marling’s guitar playing on it was an obvious highlight, fellow Picky Bastard James called ‘ridiculous’ and it’s hard to disagree with the sheer talent on display. I’m not sure any musician I’ve ever seen live plays like Laura Marling plays her guitar and it makes every song such a thrill to witness.
She’s not afraid to show her vulnerability and honesty with how human she really is though. She can play a song on guitar completely perfectly and then still apologise for forgetting the opening lyric and having to ask the crowd. ‘I’ll mention how pregnant I am once and then I promise to never say it again’ followed up by a moment where one of the stickers on her guitar had fallen off and ‘I don’t need it but it’s my own comfort blanket’ while she mentioned ‘I’m usually covered in stickers at home’. Her quiet relatability in contrast with her impossible to comprehend talent makes every Laura Marling show one I’ll never forget.
As we reached the closing section, the choir accompanying once again for absolute highlight Once it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed by this show as she perfoms closer ‘For You’. Patterns In Repeat made me reflect on my time as a Laura Marling fan, the journey we seem to have gone on with her over the years and this stunning show captured that spirit so well. It may be ‘a little while’ before we see Laura Marling out performing again but she’s an artist who I’ll be seeing at venues like Albert Hall for as long as I can. A gorgeous, poignant performance steeped in talent and charm.
Words by Sam Atkins
Picky Bastards 