NEWS
EVENTS
Waxahatchee @ Scala, King's Cross
Indie | Thursday 24th October 2013 | Alex
Scala has had a long and colourful history, formerly a cinema sued by Stanley Kubrick, playing host to acts like Super Furry Animals, The Libertines and Foo Fighters, and a proper club venue. A place this historic deserves acts that really play up to its huge billing - unfortunately Waxahatchee fell slightly short of this, in my eyes.
It’s been a good year for Katie Crutchfield, the real name behind Waxahatchee. Her latest effort, Cerulean Salt, has had great success. It held the top spot of the Official Record Store Chart which is always impressive and has been toured pretty extensively. So when walking into Scala’s crowded main room, it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise that there were so many people waiting to see Crutchfield do what Crutchfield does.
Prior to Waxahatchee taking the stage, I saw Swearin’s set which was well executed if a little removed from the audience. Swearin’ are a band that owe a lot to the garage and grunge bands of the ‘90s and this was well and truly echoed throughout their set. One of my prevailing thoughts was how little interaction there seemed to be between artists and crowd. There was a particular instance whereby the question “Are you guys excited for Waxahatchee?” was met with indecisive murmurs and nods of heads. It didn’t seem like many people in the stationary mass of heads were all to up for up. Monday night shows, they’re a mixed bag.
In the intermission, cigarettes were smoked, opinions were exchanged and beer was drunk. Then Crutchfield took to the stage and the crowd fell silent. A brief, almost apologetic, introduction was given and the first two tracks with an audience that clung to her every word. While Waxahatchee’s music is mainly based around her lyrics and delicate delivery, it was as though you couldn’t help but think that a bit more intricacy on the guitar would have aided the songs along much better.
Emerging after a short time, a drummer and bassist were welcome additions as it allowed the songs to take a much fuller form utilising an almost Pixies-esque formula of quiet verse and loud chorus that kicks in somewhere in nearly every song. Nevertheless, the audience loved it; a peculiar blend of young and old in unison, either head banging or reservedly nodding to the beat.
I, myself, had been waiting for “Peace & Quiet” the whole set. The track was no disappointment as her delightfully twangy delivery was on display for all to hear. It held everyone’s attention, as well as receiving the most rapturous applause of the evening.
Overall, the two acts I was able to see, both signed to Wichita, proved to be an effective partnership. Waxahatchee picked up where Swearin’ left off, it just couldn’t be ignored that a fuller sound might have lifted the headline act’s set from interesting to enthralling.
Alex Taylor https://twitter.com/alextaylor18
