Live Review: Lanie Lane, Olympia

It can be curious to see how an artist takes an audience with them, when the music has altered radically from what the punters were used to.

Lanie Lane’s cabaret rockabilly cowgirl motif has mostly gone, replaced by an atmospheric jazzy soul, retaining some hints of country. Until she started chatting between songs, revealing the excitable dag playing at being a pop star is still present – “Look at you all! Yay!” – and those awkward tales of her teenage trombone playing.

Olympia was a complementary support and fitted musically with Lanie’s new outlook. Playing solo over loops of her own vocal harmonies she sang of love, cities – and a blue light disco. Her occasional nerves as to whether she was being entertaining became quite endearing. She then picked up a shiny pearl-inlayed guitar, which then shimmered and swooped with some style.

And to the headliner, where Lanie’s wardrobe choice of sophisticated cocktail dress and bare feet seemed to reflect some of her music’s moods, opening with quietly flowing Salute, from the new Night Shade album, to take you into her world. Some of the crowd took a while to warm to the languid stroll of it, although some offerings from the first album were smattered through: Jungle Man rumbling on Paul Derricott’s tribal drums, Bang Bang still coming with its honky-tonk attitude in place.

But it’s La Loba’s thoughtful conversation of falling asleep on a backyard trampoline under a starry country sky that’s more who and where she is now. While the brassy sass of You Show How I Should Like It is grown up in another way entirely. Even some of her faithful may have considered her an unlikely chanteuse, but tonight she appeared brave enough to take the challenge.