Laura Viers Earth 17/09/26

She enters the stage along with Karl Bleu, who we were introduced to as the opening act, singing a Tom Rush cover and declaring "I'm obsessed with writing songs about cities". His red shoes popped out amongst his smart grey trousers and complimented Laura's quirky jumpsuit which also matched her quirky personality, the tone was set for the rest of the evening. Both have been on the road together since 2003.

Fun fact: they both drive themselves on "the wrong side of the road" whilst touring, no chauffer for them...D.I.Y all the way! Both from the U.S, Karl hasn't been on all of Laura's U.K tours so this was something new even for some of her mega fans. Their stage presence reflected the depth of their working relationship and friendship, they were both clearly in sync with one another musically speaking. There were noticeable silent cues and you could hear them talking to each other as they moved along, Karl's vocals harmonised with Laura's as a gentle echo. She told the crowd how much she "loves his singing" and trusts he will always "sing well" with her on stage, both not afraid to improvise and playing "scat" and freeform jazz was a running joke during the night.

They had a conversation between themselves on how to define the word, giving us a taster of the Q&A later. Laura was very open with the audience and spoke about her life, her husband and children and past experiences having creative mental blocks where she struggled writing music. Some of the fans I met in the queue who had seen her perform many times told me there was a show when she performed very heavily pregnant and "could barely reach her guitar". She sang Rivers Song which is about one of her children.

I had an interesting conversation with a music and vinyl lover sitting next to me before the show began which got me thinking. He was recently retired and travelled from Kent to the show, he had seen her perform 4 times.

The lyrical expression, the on stage banter between the two and with the audience, the small stories between tuning guitars, the jokes and poking fun of themselves and their tiredness whilst being on tour and the improvisation which you don't find listening to a record as they tend to be more polished (live albums are a different subject but I digress). Live shows are all unique in their own way and these factors make the experience feel raw and personable. The small anecdotes and stories musicians share on stage helps you get to know them better and gain insight into the meaning behind their music which also makes it more relatable and powerful. Something I also noticed was that this was not the type of crowd that were there to create social media content. I did see a phone out here and there but much less than other shows. I asked someone in the audience what they thought and they pointed out that their "relationship with their phone is very different compared to their children's". Maybe this is a different generation of fans, it almost felt rude getting a phone out to take pictures. Towards the end of the night they did a Q&A and asked the audience to shout questions at them. Laura provoked the audience to ask where Karl got his red shoes from but we didn't get the answer which left me feeling curious. There were questions about future collaborations and space and Laura made it clear they would also be at the merch table for more questions after. A moment definitely worth noting was the Dolly Parton tribute. Karl and Laura sang Islands in The Stream together, encouraging the audience to sing (or improvise) the chorus with them which sounded great and was alot of fun. They sung Sunlight and Doom for the encore which made for an enchanting and beautiful ending to the evening.

There are also a few sets of stairs before you finally reach the venue however there is a lift for wheelchair users and those who need assistance. I was taken back by how mighty the stage looked as I walked through the door as Laura Viers joked "do you think this stage is big enough?". There is a bar selling canned alchoholic and non alcoholic beverages and as always a merch stall. The staff at the entrance are friendly and lighthearted. There are bag searches but they don't feel as intense as other venues in the city. Earth is located near Dalston Kingsland station in east London, a vibrant part of the city. There is plenty of places to eat, drink, shop and have a coffee, you can easily spend an entire day or night there. It is the home of the Rio cinema and notorious Dalston Superstore and has a few LGBTQ+ friendly bars and dance nights (The Divine is my personal favourite). Alternatively there are also old man pubs, cocktail, jazz and wine bars if you want to carry on the night before your last train home.