The Staves – Down At The Front

The Staves at Koko

Paul Hudson — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 16:35:14 +0000

A really pleasant evening with the sisters from Watford and my first visit to Koko since its refit. It was also my first time seeing the Staves since about 2016. Since then their sound has shifted naturally away from the delicate folk harmonies towards a more American folk rock sound that better fills large spaces. Emily has also taken a break from the band as she has two young children. Luckily, the comfortable sibling ribbing and the harmonies were still evident with the two remaining sisters, Jessica and Camilla, blending together beautifully. A real highlight was them being joined by Emily for three songs at the end.

Support was a solo slot from Anna B Savage

Set List

All Now
I Don’t Say It, But I Feel It
Fundamental Memory
Best Friend
Black & White
Satisfied
Make It Holy
The Echo
Nothing’s Gonna Happen
I’ll Never Leave You Alone
After School
Failure
So Gracefully
Great Wave
Good Woman
You Held It All
In The Long Run
Mexico
Teeth White

The Staves

Paul Hudson — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 22:13:48 +0000

Another evening at the Royal Festival Hall for the Guy Garvey’s Meltdown festival. Tonight was a flying visit from the Staves who took a break from their US tour. As usual it was a lovely evening of music and sisterly bickering. Tonight they mixed new and old material and it was interesting to hear some of their new material.

The Staves at Wilton Music Hall

Paul Hudson — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 20:13:49 +0000

Hidden down a back street near Tower Bridge you find what looks like an old derelict building. This is in fact a venue, Wilton’s Music Hall. An old music hall that’s gradually being restored. Walking through the doors, the first thing that strikes is ‘is it safe?’. Seriously, there are building sites that look more safe than this place. Once into the main hall, it is a rather nice building and once restored, it will be an amazing venue.

Seen better days.

A photo posted by Paul (@pahudson) on Mar 23, 2015 at 12:45pm PDT

Luckily tonight’s gig isn’t for some raucous rock band, who might literally bring the place down, instead it’s the Staves. Three sisters from Watford who sing some of the most sublime harmonies around.

Support for the evening comes from James Canty. He supported the Staves the last time I saw them and I remarked at the time about his relaxed engaging style. Tonight was more of the same. His music is inoffensive. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nice tunes. Interesting stories. Nothing flash. What lifts everything is how engaged he is with the crowd using a nice line of self-depricating humour. He doesn’t appear to have any airs or graces and that definitely makes his performance enjoyable.

Tonight was the Staves album launch party. Much of the set was the new material which most of us hadn’t really had a chance to listen to. This can be a risk. But the sisters were clearly thrilled by the whole evening joking throughout with the audience. But even if they weren’t relaxed, with their ability to sing glorious harmonies, they could go on stage and sing the phone book and you’d be happy with what you’ve heard. So it helps when the new material is strong, with some instant classics on it. Towards the end, the girls were joined by Justin Vernon (Bon Ivor) who produced their album.

The Staves

Paul Hudson — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:47:18 +0000

The Staves at The Tabernacle

Paul Hudson — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:37:32 +0000

The Tabernacle in Notting Hill, is a new venue for me. It’s an old Chapel that’s been converted into an arts and music venue.

The venue was quiet nice but a bit too ‘Notting Hill’ for me. Comparisons to Union Chapel are obvious, but Union Chapel is still used as a Church and it’s got a more magical sound quality. But it’s an interesting venue.

The Staves music can probably be categorised as ‘folk indie’. With the girls using their excellent harmonisations to create a lovely unique sound. Most of tonight’s material was off their EP’s. Their first album is not out until July. But They already have some excellent materials. To some extent, the joy of the Staves is the way all three girls can take lead vocals. Each voice is distinctive enough and strong enough to hold an entire set. You feel almost feel spoilt by the end of the gig having heard so many great voices. Their parents must have had some very pleasant evenings listening to the girls practice.