Live Review: Julien Baker - EartH Hackney, London 17/11/2024
Julien Baker’s fans are dedicated. It’s raining in Hackney when I get there, yet the queue stretches almost as far back as Dalston Kingsland an hour and a half before. By the time I’ve gone to the pub to watch the football and come back for show start time; it’s even further. The fanbase of the Boygenius superstar is dedicated, passionate and clearly in love with their idol – that’s reflected in Baker’s confidence, who’s able to put in an excellent performance, changing the set-list as she does, despite being jetlagged from a recent flight. What fans are greeted with is a truly magical evening on the cold late November night; one that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Katie Malco comes onto the stage for support, but it’s natural that the long queue means she’s already started her set by the time the majority of the crowd have entered the downstairs at EarthH. Malco’s comic timing is hilarious and her banter with the crowd makes this sometimes almost feel like a stand-up show, but with the confidence of someone who’s been touring for a while; she has indeed, played with Baker before on her American leg. Much of the jokes come at Americans’ expense – she says that her one-liner about a two dragons walking into a bar, one saying it’s too hot in here and the other telling them to close their mouth, went over much of their heads but is more warmly received here. So too is her residency in Birmingham, moreso than admitting she’s from Northampton. People there don’t get out much. It’s true. The music though, is special – inspired by artists who play Christmas songs all year round and don’t care what people think, she launches into Be Good at Christmas, mourning over a relationship as Christmas draws closer – a lot of her songs are about past breakups; and one about the awkwardness of living together after you’ve broken up because you’re too poor to move out hits home. When You’re Sleeping is powerful, a sombre introspective for a cold winter night. This isn’t the sort of near-Christmas experience to mosh to, unlike IDLES’ cover of All I Want for Christmas Is You at Rock Werchter this year, but it’s transformative, melancholic and at times, deeply haunting. Both support acts were new to me and I’m instantly a fan of both. Ending on Brooklyn, a love letter to the city – hailing from her debut album, Malco is in top form.
Malco was then followed by indie folk dream pop singer from Soak, hailing from Derry, Northern Island. Their fusion of soul and folk that led to the origin of their name gives you a clue as to what to expect from the non-binary artist, and for Baker to use her platform to elevate non-binary artists makes a welcome change and an important statement. Soak is less proficient than Malco at interacting with the crowd, but jokes about how they’re trying to make their hair work for them each night, and effortlessly responds “that was my mum”, when someone in the crowd says they love it. Highlights from this set includes Subaru, named after the car – and the stripped back, intimate performance is a match made in heaven for Baker’s fans. Blud gave fans a taste of the audience allowing her parents arguing with an ear pressed to her floorboards – bolsting with the personal touch that makes this an intimate set worthy of the early visit.
When Soak was done, Julien Baker came on – and the fans were in love, entranced – it was a spiritual experience for all involved. There wasn’t much fan interaction over the course of the one hour and thirty-minute set-list, Baker apologising for being jet-lagged and taking time to promote the value of sleep aside, but this allowed for more songs and a no-nonsense set-list yet one at the same time, capable of evoking pure magic. The southern charm radiates through her energy on stage – emotionally impactful and searingly important. If you weren’t crying by the end of the night, were you really watching a Julien Baker gig? It’s the opening night of her London residency, and for fans, the temptation to go for every single night has never been more real.
Appointments connect the value of talking to people, helping improve and the struggle of not missing anymore appointments. For people who have struggled with therapy, Turn Out the Lights hits like a tonne of bricks, and to see much of that album on the set-list made it a truly memorable experience. “It's just that I talked to somebody again / Who knows how to help me get better / Until then I should just try not to miss anymore / Appointments” is a searingly honest masterwork that plays to the stripped-down uniqueness of the set, in fine form. I think had Baker played Claws in Your Back it might have broken me completely. Ringside comes next, Favour and Relative Fiction. Much of this is pulled from her third album, maximising storytelling as an art form – superbly polished by this point in her career. “Beat myself till I’m bloody, and I’ll give you a ringside seat”, is suitably poignant and gives the darker undertone that runs through much of her music. It’s a show about finding herself – who she is, Relative Fiction is a similar counterpoint to Appointments in the fact that it looks at help being offered, but not what is needed for her – “I don’t need a savior, I need you to take me home,” with the religious experience coming at the expense of being able to fend for yourself something reckoned with over the course of the song.
Her cover of Frightened Rabbit’s The Woodpile is a stripped-down touch – three songs apiece played from Turn out the Lights and Sprained Ankle, allows fans to get a full, diverse experience of her career so far. There is not a dry eye in the house come the ending encore of Everybody Does, with a set-piece designed to explore addiction and depression in a welcoming touch of honesty that showcases her human side. In terms of performances her vocals are unrivalled on the indie scene – Hardline ends on such an emotional punch it’s hard not to stand up and applaud at the authenticity and the humanity. The whole set-list amounts to having your heart ripped out and broken over and over again, ripped to pieces and being repaired by the end of the night in a way that feels completely rewarding.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
Photography by Stefania Semini
