Patrick Wolf at Tate Modern
On Saturday I went to the Tate Modern for a unique experience. Nan Goldin, a famed photographer, was exhibiting her work as a slideshow presentation and she wanted Patrick Wolf to soundtrack her most famous work, The Ballad Of Sexual Dependency. As a fan of his music I was always going to say yes to this.
In my mind, it was unclear as to what kind of soundtrack he would do. Would he compose some all new material specifically for the piece? Would he perform some older material? Would it be new and old material? In the end, he did both. He and his live band performed stripped down and sombre versions of songs that could feature on his next album and an assortment of songs from his back catalogue. What I wasn’t prepared for was how blown away I was going to be.
Opening with a beautiful new song called Thickets, Patrick’s vocals and music could be heard clearly in a hall of pure silence. He also performed a couple of b-sides – Afraid and The Marriage – that also sounded excellent. His choice of album tracks were even better. I was trying to watch the art as well but the music side of things was just so captivating, I couldn’t take my eyes off of what was happening on the stage. Along with Magpie, The Bluebell and Secret Garden, three other tracks caught my eye.
The first was The Childcatcher off his debut album, Lycanthropy. Some will say it was a controversial choice of song to play over footage of young children but the combination actually worked. The second was Tristan, off of Wind In The Wires, which was stripped down perfectly from the loud, proclaiming version on the album.
The third of these songs was The Stars, which ended the whole thing. This is one of my favourite songs of Wolf’s and I was secretly overjoyed he played it. What I wasn’t prepared for was how emotional and overwhelming it was going to be. The song was played over happy and sweet photos of couples but also sombre photos of gravestones. It all made me very close to tears. That’s a rarity in itself, but for me it is also the sign that you’re watching something truly special.
What I’ve learned from tonight is that Patrick isn’t just another singer songwriter. It is startling that a 24 year old can have such talent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other musical artist who is as gifted as him and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with such a good understanding of music as him. As the crowd in the Turbine Hall gave him a standing ovation, it confirmed in my mind that Patrick Wolf is arguably one of the biggest talents this country has to offer, but also one that could potentially remain unsung by the masses (not that it matters).
The setlist was:
Thickets
Afraid
Augustine
Secret Garden
The Childcatcher
Tristan
Brother John
Magpie
The Bluebell
Total Eclipse Of The Sun
Damaris
The Marriage
Orphero
The Stars
Some good photos can be found here and here .
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Posted on May 26th, 2008 by Max
Filed under: Gigs, Reviews
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