Antony Hegarty charms revered vocalist out of performance hiatus for double Meltdown 2012 coup
8/10
In 1982, at a time when every other label seemed to be
searching for an alternative to the synth-rock pomposity of Spandau bloody
Ballet, 4AD unleashed the cold electro-wave album “Garlands” by erstwhile
indie/dream-pop heavyweights, Cocteau Twins. Musically, the album barely stood
out from another scene of pompous but occasionally rewarding redoubt (Goth), but did feature a singer
destined to be a catalyst for many a journalist’s fawning hysteria, the linguistic advancement
of the word “Ethereal” and increased sales of handkerchiefs (to dry men’s easy
tears, to paraphrase one of their songs).
After opting to eschew ‘proper’ words for mouth-music and a personal indecipherable language, Elizabeth Fraser became something of an enigma. Since the band’s 1983 album “Head Over Heels”, a set that still sounds remarkable almost thirty years later, Fraser’s angelic velveteen soprano has curled itself up in the recesses of many an adoring fan's conscience, both male and female, young and old, hard-bitten and romantic. This may explain her varied audience tonight, most of whom seem patient enough to wait and listen to the preceding ‘support’, a spell-binding madrigal a cappella quartet whose name sadly remains a mystery.
After opting to eschew ‘proper’ words for mouth-music and a personal indecipherable language, Elizabeth Fraser became something of an enigma. Since the band’s 1983 album “Head Over Heels”, a set that still sounds remarkable almost thirty years later, Fraser’s angelic velveteen soprano has curled itself up in the recesses of many an adoring fan's conscience, both male and female, young and old, hard-bitten and romantic. This may explain her varied audience tonight, most of whom seem patient enough to wait and listen to the preceding ‘support’, a spell-binding madrigal a cappella quartet whose name sadly remains a mystery.
So, for her second of two exclusive Meltdown appearances, the
diminutive Fraser took to the stage in shimmering white before launching into
one of many new songs unveiled at this show. “Bushey” dazzled quietly and
without fanfare, though full of typical atmosphere and cinematic reference,
beguiling enough to settle nerves on both sides of the lectern and stage edge.
Tonight was not all about revisiting old songs and turning curator Antony Hegarty’s
invitation into an anniversary of memories, there were plenty of other
unreleased or rare treasures in the offing – “Enoesque”, “Underwater” (early
solo single) and “Make Lovely”, the latter featuring guest guitarist Steve Hackett,
were sumptuous themes and elegiac exercises for Fraser’s still pitch-perfect
tonsils.
Naturally, with such a wide age-range in the seats, Cocteau
Twins albums and songs were scattered throughout with 1988’s “Blue Bell Knoll” and
1990’s “Heaven or Las Vegas” sharing the spoils – “Suckling The Mender”, “Athol-Brose”
and the title-track from the first, “Pitch The Baby”, “Cherry-Coloured Funk”
and the pick of the night for me, “Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires”, from
the second. “Donimo” from “Treasure” was greeted with rapturous cheers and the
eddying “Oomingmak” from “Victorialand” bobbed politely around the auditorium.
The onus here was not so much to ‘do a Cocteaus’ and supercharge the life out of the songs, but to revisit them with subtlety and grace. The band and backing vocalists did them justice – it isn’t easy to harmonize or even keep up with Fraser’s expressive scales, but the two girls nailed it. The mix, however, was rather flat in places, although sitting high up to one side probably didn’t offer up the most ‘HD’ of audible experiences.
The onus here was not so much to ‘do a Cocteaus’ and supercharge the life out of the songs, but to revisit them with subtlety and grace. The band and backing vocalists did them justice – it isn’t easy to harmonize or even keep up with Fraser’s expressive scales, but the two girls nailed it. The mix, however, was rather flat in places, although sitting high up to one side probably didn’t offer up the most ‘HD’ of audible experiences.
After a standing ovation, exit stage right, some boisterous
good-natured drunken heckling (“marry me, no sex, you’d only have to sing”),
the hall became still again and it was no surprise when “Pearly Dewdrops Drops”
and “Song To The Siren” reared their pretty heads for what turned out to be a
suitably moving encore, concluded with yet another standing ovation (or three, I
lost count) and the requisite well-deserved bouquet of flowers.
Despite the desultory comments made by one critic after the
first night about the band ‘being from different groups’ and the backing
vocalists sounding like they were from a ‘cruise ship’, I can honestly say that
the whole of the second night was more or less spot-on, save for a lack of fairy-dust, here and there. This was to be my third time of seeing Fraser perform in nigh-on thirty years. The first was in the mid-80s at the now-defunct St Austell Cornwall Coliseum where they were a poor second to support-band Dif Juz and the second was in the '90s in Norwich when the troubled times of "Four Calendar Cafe" seeped into what became a triumph.
Tonight could have gone either way on paper. On stage, it went the best possible way and then some.
Tonight could have gone either way on paper. On stage, it went the best possible way and then some.
Welcome
back, Elizabeth. Bring on that album.
For further information about Elizabeth Fraser live concerts, head to Allgigs here