The Thekla, 16th March 2022
Opening up the proceedings tonight is Ami Dang with the first time I have seen a sitar and modular synth combined and, as I gather from Ami’s Twitter, the first time she has toured in such a way.
With both Ami, Sitar in hand, and her touring partner with synths sat on the floor of the Thekla playing out lush and atmospheric songs there’s a very intimate opening to the gig.
The main act tonight is Tamara Linderman’s The Weather Station, today with a full band, returning to Bristol for the first time since The Crofters Rights in 2018.
Since then The Weather Station has released 2 albums just slightly over 12 minutes apart – “Ignorance” in 2021 and “How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars” released on the 4th March 2022.
Tonight’s setlist actually focuses heavily on 2021’s “Ignorance”, which is seen by many critics and fans as the “breakout” album having pretty much universal acclaim across the board. We get the entirety of the original album, albeit in a shuffled order, and we’re even given “Better Now” from the deluxe version.
Whilst Linderman has moved her song writing slightly into the more “pop” territory, the lyrics and themes of the album often contradict this tone in songs such as “Atlantic” which explores how many turn a blind eye to the effect that the climate crisis is having or “Separated” one of the most upbeat songs of the set dealing with the separations in society, particularly in arguments we have over social media.
The full band setup tonight really complements the sound of the tracks from “Ignorance” and “Separated” was probably the best example of this with soaring synths and drums. The only track of the latest album “How Is It That I Should Look at Stars” is “Stars” which is a much more stripped back song much more in line with The Weather Station’s earlier output and whilst it manages to utter captivate the audience in to silence is possibly indicative of why the setlist tonight is focusing more on “Ignorance”, personally I’d also love to see Linderman return for a more stripped-down set focusing on the latest album later in the year. Similarly, we don’t get much of the earlier albums (“How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars” is The Weather Station’s 6th album since the 2009 debut “The Line”) but we do get “Way It Is, Way It Could Be” from 2015’s “Loyalty” and a rousing performance of “Thirty” from the 2017 self-titled album.
An excellent set from an artist that is only starting to get the true recognition she deserves from a stellar career so far, I’m excited to see where she goes next and I hope The Weather Station stops through Bristol on the way!
Craig J Simmonds Media
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