Reviews Bido Lito! April 2015
Liverpool’s largest venues. Considering how
utterly packed-out the theatre is tonight, the
crowd is remarkably quiet. You could hear a pin
drop at most points, and the (limited) audience
participation is decidedly muted. For another
act on another night, this might be considered
an off-putting lack of atmosphere. Tonight, it is
most welcome, and only leaves more space to
appreciate the intricacies of The Staves’ sound.
The material from new album If I Was sounds
great tonight, and sees them exploring a darker
edge to their music, as well as excelling as
writers while exploring new lyrical themes.
Steady is particularly interesting in a live
setting – hypnotising and somewhat frenzied,
while remaining coherent and disciplined. After
all, The Staves are very much a live band – that’s
how they started out, and it shows, through
their ability to give their songs room to breathe
without sacrificing their impressive chops.
Their sound in the studio is clean, crisp and
regimented, because ultimately that’s what
their oft-understated style requires. Thankfully,
The Staves seem to make a conscious effort not
to let their live interpretations become stale,
and just a little chaos is thrown into the mix, to
great effect. Debut album favourite Mexico is a
good example of this, where the trio manage to
do justice to the tricky three-part harmonies of
the studio version, whilst injecting just enough
feel and variation to make the performance
unique to this set.
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The Staves (Gaz Jones / @GJMPhoto)
In terms of popularity, The Staves are very
much hitting their stride right now. For one
reason or another, it’s no surprise that almost
every date of this tour was sold-out. Obviously,
a female folk group comprised of attractive
posh girls who happen to be sisters is any
marketing exec’s dream come true, but don’t
be fooled – The Staves are the genuine article.
The combination of their sound and image
could seem somewhat saccharine from afar,
but such is their songwriting pedigree and their
confidence as performers, you can see them
enjoying their imminent ascent into the Brit
rock mainstream without losing their artistic
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integrity. They certainly seem to be enjoying
the journey, and, musically, it’s a winning
formula that will likely stand the test of time.
It’s twee, it’s distinctly middle-class, and it’s a
little mawkish in places. But when they get it
right, it’s fucking beautiful.
Alex Holbourn / @AlexHolbourn