REVIEW: Naima Bock at Sidney&Matilda
A boxy structure in the courtyard of Sidney&Matilda juts out into a smoking area where people gather, waiting for friends and scuffing their shoes against the concrete ground. This is The Factory, a secret garden and an oasis of a gig space, worlds away from the closeness and darkness of The Basement, Sidney&Matilda’s primary event space. It’s the perfect venue for tonight’s gig, which sees Evelyn Gray and Naima Bock share a bill to titillate fans of foraged sounds and gentle, sinewy songwriting.
Photo: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
Evelyn Gray is up first. Known to most for fronting indie favourites Tapir!, Gray has now struck out on her own. She takes the stage as a crowd slowly drifts in, her wiry vocals filling the space. Fingers flex and thrill across the frets of her guitar as she introduces the audience to her new musical identity. Without the ornamentation of Tapir!’s six-strong band, her music is stark, shimmering in the air as she looses forth a string of new songs. One Tapir! song hides amongst the set, for those still clinging to the skirts of the past, but there’s a lot in this set that invites you to look forward. Her debut single, set to land on Tuesday 3rd February, stands on the precipice of her new musical oeuvre, toes hanging over the edge, poised for flight.
After the warmth of The Factory, the outside air chills. There’s a giddy reverence for what we’ve just seen as cigarettes are lit and pints are pulled. Then it’s back inside the walls of The Factory for the night’s headline act.
Naima Bock arrives accompanied by Oliver Hamilton, the bridge of his violin dusted with resin, and two additional singers who float in and out of the set. The singers provide exquisite harmonies, gilding the soundscape Bock and Hamilton are able to tease out of their instruments. It’s rare that such a spare set of instruments - in this case, just a guitar and a violin - are able to create such a rich, deep sound. Throughout, there remains a balance between Bock’s gentle tones and something stronger. Like the way that cherry trees often appear muscular, gripping fistfuls of blossom at the end of their branches, Bock’s music marries tenderness with something tougher. Her on-stage patter invites a confidence with the audience, perhaps induced by the fact that so many of her friends are in the crowd tonight. She gives a few shoutouts, including to her best friend’s father, David. David’s voice issues from the crowd, laughingly referencing some lost New Year’s Eve from Bock’s youth. She attempts to set the record straight; all that happened is that she lost her voice. We aren’t so sure. But it's another unifying moment in a set that overruns with intimacy and camaraderie.
At the end of the night, as last moments are snatched with friends before the pull of bus timetables and early-morning starts, there’s a sense of elation that this is all on our doorstep. Far from facing the last train home after a night in Manchester or Leeds or Nottingham, we can simply hop, step, and jump into our beds, ready to do this all again next time the lights of Sidney and Matilda wink in our direction.
Words: Edie McQueen
Photos: Benji Wilson (@jamburrito1)
