By DJ Astrocreep
A last minute jaunt over to my second home of Manchester sees me take in the aural delights of Chelsea Wolfe for the first time. After blasting Soft Play down my ears on the train over, still earworming me from a few days previous, I meet up with a couple of friends and head down to the venue in time for doors and our support act.
Mary Jane Dunphe is intriguing, to say the least. Coming across as a combination of Bjork and Kate Bush, she mixes performance art whilst singing and does an admirable job of each. The lighting desk is a big help, responding to her couple of prompts as her set continues.
She is genuinely different, as elements of Siouxsie Sioux, Danielle Dax and even Madonna come through at different times, showing a definite nod to the ’80s, whilst creating something genuinely engaging, to the point that I feel like I’m missing something as I put notes on to my phone. Even a microphone malfunction, where Dunphe’s exuberant performance pulls the cord from the socket, doesn’t deter her, as she just resets the backing and gets straight back on to it. It’s a genuinely spellbinding performance from an artist that deserves to have a huge spotlight pointed at her in the very near future.
It is an extremely rare gig these days that you don’t see a sea of phones. It’s also extremely rare to captivate an audience to the point of almost complete silence outside of end of song applause and cheers. Chelsea Wolfe live encapsulates both of those and much, much more. Combining a light show with such a captivating, ethereal sound to form such an atmosphere is clear proof of just why Wolfe is so highly regarded in some circles. The last time I saw a performance this entrancing was Nick Cave – in the AO Arena, or all places – and it’s fitting that Wolfe is mentioned alongside that calibre of artist.
The decision to run a projector behind a white screen to provide song thematic visuals at times is a good one, providing extra stimulus for the eyes whilst other senses are already being swept up in the performance. The light show provides the main visual distraction, with the often minimal lighting a perfect mood setter for the delicate nature of some of the music, picking up as either the tempo or noise levels do. It all creates the setting that allows the focus to be on the music and Wolfe herself, as it ought to be.
Elvira may have been called the #MistressOfTheDark many years ago, but Wolfe has well and truly usurped that crown now. Fitting in songs such as ‘The Culling’ and ‘Eyes Like Nightshade’ is a lovely treat, while we later get the likes of ‘Dusk’ and ‘Feral Love’ before a single song encore. The reverence and respect shown by the crowd is the clearest sign you can get of just how talented both Wolfe and the supporting band are. All in all, a fantastic evening of sumptuous sounds and performances.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.