Joan as Police Woman at The Shepherd's Bush Empire

Joan as Police Woman at The Shepherd's Bush Empire

12 December, 2008
by: Joshua28

Gigs are like people. Seriously. That's the first thing that comes to my mind the moment Joan Wesser (Joan As Police Woman) walks on stage, looking strangely like Tina Turner circa the Eighties (hairsprayed mane, sparkly disco dress, extravagant smile). Gigs remind me of people.

Some gigs are like that drunken loony on the N38 bus who's just as likely to erupt like a fire-breathing expletive volcano as he is to wee all over the bus seat. Others are like people who you only meet at parties who are OK, until they run off with your date.

And then there are those gigs that remind me of mates, close mates; good, dependable buddies, probably been on holidays together. Few secrets, few surprises but their company is a guaranteed good time.

So back to Joan Wesser; the multi-instrumentalist who's on stage, on keyboard, with a bass guitarist and drummer, playing close-to-note perfect compositions of songs from her two albums. Close-to-note as in, if she had say a bigger band the gig would be like listening to her CDs at home. I should wag the 'Predictable!' finger, but I don't, because I'm listening to some finely crafted pop music. Think Aimee Mann if she hung out with Rufus Wainwright a lot.

And all her numbers are strong; 'Anyone' is just as heart-snatching as the first time I heard it. 'I Defy', despite not having Anthony Hegarty down for his bit on the vocals, still shines. It's just a little clean, unadventurous, slightly over-familiar, this gig, which isn't too bad a fault. I feel like I'm hanging with a good mate I meet up with often; good, safe, dependable friendly fun, nice to be around, no surprises, never acting out of turn…

Until she pulls out a rendition of Jimi Hendrix's 'Fire' that is. Slowed down with added banshee shrieking, it's full of invention and freshness: sweet release after all that restraint. 'To America' picks up the tempo, segues into 'Furious', and culminates in one big, balls-out, chaotic, wonderfully noisy free-for-all instrument-bang-a-thon.

But the encore is where she plays her best card; a beautifully sad and haunting cover of Keeper of the Flame. It's almost enough to make me wish she did a whole gig of covers. Almost.

So yeah, if this gig was to be a person then I guess it would be a close familiar mate you recently discovered has been moonlighting as an S&M escort for the last seven years. Or something like that.

Despite being next door to a Walkabout, The Shepherd's Bush Empire is a pretty cool place to see shows- check out our page to see what they have now. Alternative, click here to see every indie gig in London.

Joshua28