Agnes Obel @ Astor Theatre
w/ Rachael Dease
Sunday, October 16, 2022.
Entering the Astor Theatre on a dark, rainy Sunday evening undoubtedly set the tone for a night that could only be described as dramatic and profoundly moving as Agnes Obel, Danish contemporary composer, singer-songwriter, pianist and producer took to the stage. After their 2020 tour was cut short owing to the pandemic, Obel’s 2022 return to the stage was nothing short of captivating.
While the word ‘haunting’ is so ridiculously over-used in describing music, it is deservingly applied to the supporting act; pianist Rachael Dease. Accompanied by Tristen Parr on the cello, Dease’s performance of songs from her evocative and existentially melancholy album Hymns for End Times quickly established a sombre mood. The instrumentation delicately trod the line between creepy and unsettling, and devastating beautiful, evoking what can only be described as musically sublime, while Dease’s vocalisation, adjusted with an echo effect which reverberated through the theatre, was grippingly disquieting. Songs like The Silence Knew, The Mountain and We All Fall Down brought a gothic tone to the evening and settled over the audience like a heavy fog, yet was somehow also soothing.
While it was certainly difficult to shake the deep existential dread left lingering in Dease’s wake (though not unwelcomely so), her opening was a breath-taking exercise in the truly gripping capability of live music. In a moment of intense personal emotional response to the piece, it was easy to wonder how others were connecting to the sombre storytelling evoked in the duo’s performance. In doing so, Dease’s set established (though somewhat hyperbolically) the deeply wistful, and contemplative tones of Obel’s later set.
In comparison, Agnes Obel and her three-person ensemble, comprising of two cellists from Melbourne and Germany and a percussionist from Berlin, all of whom provided backing vocals, offered an altogether more up-beat and lively presence, lifting the audience from the moody, melancholy of the supporting act and giving depth to the night as a whole.The combination of old and new instrumentation and performance styles was immediately striking, with both cellists using live looping pedals, and the percussionist alternating between a traditional marimba and an electronic drum kit. Obel herself alternated between an electronic keyboard and a grand piano. This approach to the performance produced a musical journey which felt both familiar, and novel, and was also truly interesting to watch as the musicians progressively ‘built’ each song from simple chords.
After a short musical introduction, Obel took to the microphone to welcome the crowd, and apologise for being severely jetlagged (a fact which hilariously came into play a couple of times, notably with Obel stopping a song to restart it, stating “it’s in 5/8, and when it goes wrong, it really goes wrong”). Softly spoken and toting a charmingly awkward stage presence, Obel was surprisingly unlike the person suggested from the powerful vocalisations she performed onstage.
The diversity of sounds across Obel’s anthology was impressive, with audiences treated to dramatic orchestral tones and drawn-out vocalisations alongside lively marimba sounds in Camera’s Rolling, before being quelled with the calming medieval, folk-like sounds of Riverside, and roused by the electronic-sounding, beautifully harmonised piano ballad in Island of Doom.
Throughout the set, each song was mapped to abstract projections of shapes and colours which seemed to move in time to the music, throwing pools of coloured light across the performers and transforming the stage into an ethereal space of light and sound. The synchronised cello performance of Familiar, accompanied with an almost ritualistic drumming, and delicately layered harmonies was undoubtedly a highlight of the night, the classic-electronic fusion of which created an otherworldly effect.
Concluding to thunderous applause, despite a sadly half-hearted standing ovation, Obel and her musicians returned to play It’s Happening Again, and On Powdered Ground, neither particularly energetic titles, though certainly rousing, giving Obel with a final chance to demonstrate her impressive piano skills, and showcase the skills of her ensemble, which the audience had enjoyed throughout the night. The official exit of Obel and company was deservedly met with a full standing ovation after what was a phenomenal performance.
BEC WELDON
Photos by Alan Holbrook
