She & Him
Ok I’ll admit this before starting, I love Zooey Deschanel kookiness so I probably afford her a few sins that I wouldn’t afford other performers. In fact I only gave the ‘She & Him Volume 1′ a listen because she was singing, well that and I really liked the first single from the album.
Tonight, supporting ‘She & Him’ were the Chapin Sisters who have an Americana, bluegrass sound. Although their set was enjoyable, there were times when I wasn’t 100% convinced by their harmonies. But since one of the sisters isn’t touring due to recently having a baby, as a threesome the occasional harshness might be smoothed over.
For their last song, Zooey filled in for their missing sister. A nice appetiser for the main event
If you’ve seen some of Zooey’s films, you’ll know that she’s got a great voice. She has a classical film musical voice. But when this is crossed with her natural ‘kookiness’ it’s something special. (I don’t like the term ‘kookie’, but I can’t think of a word that sums her up any better)
It’s rare that an album artist sounds as good live as they do on disk. It might have been that Koko’s acoustics suited Zooey’s voice, but Zooey’s voice was exquisite. Simply the best female vocals I’ve heard for years. It really was that good.
If you’ve heard She & Him’s music you’ll know it’s 60s influenced kitsch pop and it transferred really well to the live arena. The evening’s highlight for me was the encore (see video below) but also an earlier section where it was literally She and Him with no backing band.
The Chapin Sisters are now simply a duo. Their sister Jessica will only join them when she’s around and available. It was wonderful for Zooey to join them for “Let Me Go” at Koko and it’s a joy to part of the She & Him band. A huge BONUS to be able to open so many of the shows. I don’t know about any vocal harshness you experienced – as I wasn’t able to be there and I’ve never heard a comment like that before in regard to them – but I hope you’ll give The Chapin Sisters another chance down the road. I don’t have any more guest list room for Shepard’s Bush Monday night (also w/She & Him), but if you’d be interested in checking out the Hoxton Grill show Wednesdasy night when they open for Harper Simon, I’d be happy to guest list ya. Let me know.
Hi John,
As I wrote, their stint was enjoyable. Both have lovely voices and most of the time the harmonies were nice. To my ear, there were a few times when one of the girls was singing low and one high, that seemed to produce a harsh harmony. It might have just been down to mixing. But I did enjoy their performance.
Thanks for your offer for Wednesday. I’d be happy to listen to them again, but I unfortunately can’t make Wednesday. I hope the gig goes well.