Jesca Hoop
She’s soulful, mystical, mysterious and wacky with a real aura (a quite magical stage presence)
Like many people in the room tonight (I am sure), I first came across Jesca Hoop when she was either being highly praised by Guy Garvey on his BBC radio 6 show or supporting Elbow on tour, and from that moment on I have been rather captivated by her stage presence, each time that I have seen her perform live, along with the beautiful music that she makes.
She is a very charming character that has so far lead a very interesting life it has to be said, brought up as a Mormon until her early teenage years, she also spent several years living in the wilds of Wyoming where she lived in an abandoned chicken shack, a story that she enjoys telling and in turn delights us with. Hoop was also the nanny to Tom Waits children if you didn’t know!
It feels like a real honour to have her playing solo in our fine City this evening, Norwich is a place that she very clearly loves, judging by her positive vibes that are emanating from the stage just now and the Arts Centre is certainly the most perfect place for her to be performing in, a very fitting setting indeed.
She looks absolutely amazing and is as stylish as ever all in black, as she delivers a fourteen-song set list, it’s just her and her two guitars. In between tracks the Californian Angel has lots to chat about and despite living in Manchester for the past sixteen years, she’s still a cool California hippy chic at heart.
She starts the show with the delightful Sudden Light, other show highlights are Murder Of Birds (originally a duet with Guy Garvey) and Born To, a track that really exemplifies her amazing vocal range, it’s quite incredible. Wow! Lyrebird is also a magical moment. The mainly fifty plus something crowd are really enjoying the moment.
She’s soulful, mystical, mysterious and wacky with a real aura (a quite magical stage presence). It’s very hard to take your eyes off of her when she’s performing.
Until next time.
