Freebutt, 25 July 2009
The wayward sparks of a curse from a duel between two witches strikes a nearby gnarled and ancient oak. The oak splits perfectly into three beautiful people, who run away deep into the forest to brew magical music. This is Esben and the Witch.
Openly nervous at their first hometown headline gig, the Brighton trio needn’t have been worried. The audience at the newly painted and refurbished Freebutt was large and excited, and had clearly turned out just for the headline act, although support from Nick Hudson, and Michael Mclinn was also impressive. Esben and the Witch are not just musicians but performers as well, meticulously decorating the stage with lights, globe-shaped lamps and strange statues – the stage set up mimicking the twisted fairytale quality of their songs and transforming the otherwise dingy Freebutt into an enchanted cavern.
Their five song set opened with reviewers’ favourite “Marching Song”. Its eerily bare guitar opening paired with the striking drumbeat was brought to life in performance. The band takes their music and its performance very seriously, a seriousness which was not lost to the audience and made their songs striking and genuine. Lead singer Rachel played the drumbeat, before launching into the haunting and echoey vocals, and the audience was entirely under her spell. Following this, Esben and the Witch played a new song from their next EP, currently being written and recorded. The song shared similar fairytale qualities to their older material and was performed faultlessly, even though this was the first time it had been played to a live audience.
It was clear that the band had pulled out all the stops for this hometown gig and their set was mesmerising and truly magical. The audience appeared captivated in response to the strange half dream, half nightmare that Esben and the Witch created on stage. Their five song set included two new songs – which received positive responses from the audience, as well as three older songs. A diffident yet talented trio, Esben and the Witch’s gothic pop filled the Freebutt, and they proved themselves to be a band to watch out for.
Words by Rose Hales
Photography by Liz Chambers
