The first time I went to see Jesca Hoop was at the Deaf Institute back in February, and I almost didn’t go. It seems incredible now, but I was tired and it was the night before I flew to Amsterdam. And now after seeing her twice? I wouldn’t miss a gig for the world. I have every intention of catching her for a third time at Latitude, and maybe even a fourth this year at Summer Sundae.
So, Jesca, how do I love thee? I shall count the ways:
- Hoop has a wonderfully endearing stage presence. She flirts with the crowd, telling us how, as a California girl she has been won over by British treats such as Marmite. She tells a peanut butter joke. She apologies for taking time to tune her guitar. She talks about her mother’s illness and her Mormon family. And the audience fall for her bit by bit until they leave, totally head over heels.
- You just know she would throw a good party. Songs like Out the Back Door and the brand new Kitchen Disco (complete with strobes) are just so damn cool I want to hang out after the gig and ask her to be my friend.
- Angel Mom, despite the title, is one of the most beautiful songs I think I have ever heard. It demonstrates the purity of Hoop’s voice perfectly, and makes me cry a little bit. And I love a cry.
- Jesca puts it all out there to give you a gig well worth your money. The music veers from blues to folk to…God, I want to say funk, but its more like some kind of new genre she has invented. There are strikingly beautiful backing singers, telephone theatrics, encores and a completely A Capella song that simply stuns the crowd.
- Oh, and Guy Garvey came out to sing with her. Did I not mention that? You know it’s been a good gig when Guy Garvey is an afterthought.
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