Any sense of unease ahead of Sky Ferreira’s long-awaited Bristol debut is quickly and loudly dismantled by the 60 minutes of electrifying goth pop lapped up by this adoring audience.
Of course, that uncertainty is not unfounded. Sky’s career has had more stop-starts than probably any other musician in recent history. It’s been 11 years since the release of her first and only album ‘Night Time, My Time’ – 8 tracks from which are played tonight – and since then there have been record company fall outs, album release announcements and cancellations and gigs regularly rescheduled, littered with technical difficulties or abandoned midway through.
Tonight’s show was rescheduled from Good Friday with little notice; presumably not helping the crowd size tonight with the back half of the room and the balconies closed off. There’s no support band and the artist is still nowhere to be seen 45 minutes after the scheduled start time. The crowd does not grow restless, however, and everyone appears to know that this is part of the Sky Ferreira experience.
Her arrival onto stage is surprisingly understated. She walks out with her band and greets us with a nervous “hi” before launching into a beefed-up and synth-heavy “Boys”. She looks every bit the nonchalant superstar; one hand in the pocket of her long black jacket and face hidden behind sunglasses, Ferreira oozes effortless cool.
More recent track “Don’t Forget” is restarted because she “had a cough” and she does appear initially nervous, seemingly unaware of how good she is and how much love there is in the room for her. She asks for the stage lights to be turned off due to feeling “overexposed”. Crowd chants of “Bristol loves you”, “you’re slaying” and “free Sky Ferreira” get her attention and you can see her confidence grow in real time.
By the time she reaches “Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay)”, she’s in main pop girl mode. The chorus, as with the rest of the setlist, is as infectious and anthemic as it ever was. Vocally fantastic tonight and the live versions are fresh, loud and powerful. There are none of the technical issues that have plagued some of her other shows. It’s a thrilling and energetic set from an artist with a loyal and passionate fanbase all too aware that her potential has been held back by music industry failures.
Evergreen banger “Everything Is Embarrassing” closes out the show tonight; it’s still an exceptional pop song which has every single audience member dancing or singing along. There’s unfortunately no encore and the setlist is around 8 songs lighter than some previous shows but Sky Ferreira proves that she’s an impressive and important live force.
In the foyer, fans queue for merch branded with the title of her yet-to-be-released album “Masochism”. Based on tonight’s performance, it will be a real shame if that is another record buried by record label executives. It’s time to free Sky Ferreira and let this caged superstar fly.
Words: Ryan Simmonds
Images: @ilnsimages
Isaac Stubbings @ilnsimages
Role: Photographer & Reviewer
Hey! I'm a photographer who uses music as a core influence in all my photography. I love looking towards colour and lighting to try and emulate a narrative that enhances my work.
Qualifications: I study Photography at the University of the West of England, Bristol.
Available for: Gig Shoots, Photo Shoots, Album and Single cover shoots and Touring
First attended gig: The first gig I went to was to see the band Beach House in Brighton when I was about 14. It was in a big church and I remember the dreamy vocals and synths sounded amazing with the acoustics of the place. After that, I was hooked on the experience of going to see live music.
First gig shot: In college I shot a couple of my friends’ bands in tiny venues, but I think the first proper gig I shot was Newdad at Thekla. Wanting to get back into music photography, I reached out – not really expecting to hear back – and it meant a lot to me when I was put on the list to shoot one of my favourite bands. It was such an enjoyable and rewarding experience for me, so after that I was set on pursuing it further.
Dream gig: Big question. There are so many I could think of, but it would have to be The Cure in a small intimate venue.
