Keaton Henson LIVE @ Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 16.06.14

Rating:

Sat at a grand piano on a stage covered in 3,000 antique car wing mirrors, Keaton Henson begins a beautiful instrumental accompanied by The Josella String Ensemble. Notoriously illusive due to his extreme stage fright, this concert at The Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of James Lavelle’s Meltdown festival was one of only a few live performances that Keaton Henson has done over recent years.

The sold out performance saw Henson perform songs from his albums Dear and Birthdays as well as pieces from his brand new album, Romantic Works.

As the audience dulls down into silence, Henson moves from the piano to a battered chair centre stage to play ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky Your Are’. The heart wrenching lyrics, combined with the delicate mixture of electric guitar and string quartet echo around the silent hall, as the stage reflects warm light onto the audience. It’s a spectacle. That’s the only way to describe it. The sheer beauty of the stage and music is astonishing.

Being a huge fan of his music, I wasn’t disappointed at all by his performance, not that I had expected it to be anything less than amazing.

Whilst mainly playing songs from his second album, Birthdays, Henson also included instrumentals from Romantic Works as well as new songs that don’t feature on any of his albums, making for a genuinely fantastic set list.

Awkwardly, leaving the stage at 9pm, Keaton is beckoned back by the cheering audience, who shout phrases of adoration at the nervous singer. One audience member shouts, “You’re perfect!” to which Henson replies, “No I’m not.” and, “Shut up.” in the nicest way possible. Playing ‘You’ as an encore, the audience settles down to hear the stage fright-riddled performer sing his last song of the night.

A beautiful and delicate performance by possibly one of the most gifted song writers around at the moment, Keaton Henson’s performance at The Queen Elizabeth Hall was a rare opportunity to hear this talented musician/singer’s beautifully written and composed music.