The Old Market, 28 July 2009
Alela Diane is one of the hot properties of the catch-all genre of Americana (whatever that even means any more).
Call her what you want: folk, Americana, alt-country, alt-folk-country-Americana-trad, one thing’s for sure, Alela Diane is a hot property. Hot enough for Rough Trade to snap her up and release her sophomore album “To Be Still” and hot enough to garner a stack of rave reviews.
As she emerges on stage at the Old Market, in front of an all-seated audience, she seems a trifle nervous, stopping her first song when she hits the wrong note. However, she soon makes amends, with her own lovely, rich voice dovetailing immaculately with that of her talented backing singer, Alina Hardin. Gradually, she brings her full band out onto stage with her, starting with her father on electric guitar and mandolin, then a full rhythm section for tracks from “To Be Still”. We are treated to spot on renditions of “Dry Grass and Shadows”, “My Brambles” and the title track, amid some fairly shy banter about having breakfast in Brighton, and her home-alone cat, Bramble. Charming and delicate in a checked shirt, the singer passes comment on the politeness of the audience, and you can’t help but feel she’d rather the crowd got up and got more involved. Frankly, it’s hard not to feel the same way.
Aside from the rather odd ambience, Diane proves what those who’ve heard her albums already know; her blend of traditional-based folk and country, awash with delicate arpeggios and embellished by her strong, evocative voice make for a heady mix. “The Ocean” comes across beautifully live, as does “The Elder Trees”, and when the crowd cheer her back for an encore she gets everyone on their feet for a stomping run-through of “The Pirate’s Gospel”. Excellent as she undeniably is, it’s a gig which leaves a deep yearning to watch her play at a festival, where her very pastoral sounds would undeniably hang sweetly in the night air.
Words by Joe Owen
Photography by Kate Chapman
