Live Review: Sharon Van Etten, Little Scout & Heather Woods Broderick

Sharon Van Etten

There's a last minute time change tonight, so The Zoo is rather empty as Heather Woods Broderick (Sharon Van Etten's guitarist) takes to the stage to open the evening with her own solo work. It's a real shame too, because her quiet dream-pop is wonderfully performed and deserves a bigger audience, though those that have made it in give her their rapt attention. Heavily reverbed melodies ring out and then hold at the end of songs, slow chord progressions hanging like smoke in the air, while Broderick's lovely, breathy voice sits achingly on top. The second half of the set moves into alt-country territory and while it's more forceful, it's no less pretty and makes for a wonderful start to the evening.

Little Scout take to the stage next and quickly push the energy up, as people begin to trickle in. Their upbeat, perky indie-pop is tight and joyfully written, catchy without being overbearing and with a unique tone that makes them immediately identifiable. It's a surprisingly heavy performance from them tonight, after the first couple of songs. There are a few new tracks on the setlist and the first has a bit of added bite, a driving kick propelling the song, while the second, Day, was originally intended as a happy track, but has ended up as something approaching blues – sad chords and a slow shuffling beat. It seems much closer to Van Etten's oeuvre than their previous recordings, and it works remarkably well, adding another exciting twist to their established sound.

From the first track, it's clear that Sharon Van Etten live is a very different experience to the recorded material. The band fleshes out the songs, bringing a volume and intensity to the tracks that makes them a lot heavier, much closer to rock. It's an interesting change, but not one that necessarily improves the tracks, as they lose in delicacy and subtlety what they gain in force and immediacy. The highlights of the set are definitely the moments when the band takes a backseat and allows Van Etten's voice and guitar to shine.

The greatest problem tonight is a very messy mix, which exacerbates the flaws of the full band, the bass dominating painfully and the vocals almost clipping to compensate until the listener retreats to near the mixing desk. Even there the backing vocals threaten to overwhelm the lead at times, which makes it hard to get a true sense of the songs.

There's certainly nothing overtly wrong with the performance tonight, Van Etten is in great voice and the band is skilled as they perform solid versions of wonderfully written songs. But perhaps because of the messy mix, the lighting – which does everything it can to draw the eye from the band –  or just heat exhaustion, the songs never transcend their recorded versions, lacking the spark that makes a concert particularly memorable.