Wildbirds and Peacedrums

Wildbirds and Peacedrums

12 March, 2009
by: Joshua28

So, I'm at The Social on Little Portland Street. Narrow is the prevailing thought; it's like someone took two fairly small corridors, dressed them up in a cocktail dress and called it a night. But on the bright side, it doesn't take much to fill up the space, and right now The Social is impersonating a sardine tin.

If I had to describe Wildbirds and Peacedrum's music it would be something like a darker voiced Bjork fronting an orchestrated thunderstorm, and it's going to be interesting to see if The Social can contain their almost boundless energy. The stage is set, Mariam steps up in front behind the mic, her husband Andreas is behind the drums literally sitting in front of the toilet door, (like I said, this venue is tiny) and almost immediately we get into it.

Andreas is a ruthless, force-of-nature kind of drummer; all spectacle and unbelievable skill and no more is this exemplified than in their second song, ‘There is no light'. Belting out three minutes of exhilarating drums, Mariam matches her husband's relentless force with a voice that should come from an older, madder, much more menacing person than the petite missus on stage. It's like an old American rock-folk singer unleashed on a Kodo set. It's raw, and dangerous and crazy, and deeply emotional.

By the middle of the set the tone shifts to slower moodier pieces like ‘so soft, so pink,' with Mariam adding harmonica and steel drums, the delightfully playful ‘Chain of Steel,' and the downright personal ‘My Heart.' All are genuine winners. though none as grabbing as ‘There is no Light'. Andreas' drum work is consistently stellar, and sits well with Mariam's inflective verses, whose chanting, vowel lengthening style belies a deep, honest connection with the words she's coming out of her mouth. Like real artists doing a real performance, even the (few) slip-ups just serve to add to the flavour.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums close with their second best song of the night- a barnstorming rendition of 'Today/Tomorrow', with the spouses engaging in a bit of synchronised drumming. Just prior to that Mariam attacked the ceiling repeatedly with a drumstick, knocking off one of the cables, which seems a bit like rock n roll posturing. It's a slightly clichéd way to end perhaps, but definitely not a deal breaker on what has been an awesome performance.

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Joshua28