Julien Baker lit up Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall as she opened the show for Belle & Sebastian.
While the headline act had a posse of 13 musicians all on stage at once, it was a big stage in a huge auditorium for little old, softly-spoken, Julien Baker but she used it all to show that sometimes less is more.
With just her electric guitar and keys, the airy venue emphasised every click of a pedal and every inflection in her vocals to give a performance with the same isolation which comes so audibly in her new album ‘Turn Out The Lights’.
The lean, half hour, performance showed off the best of that brilliant sophomore album. With tracks ‘Turn Out The Lights’ and ‘Appointments’ opening the set, Julien’s vocals were centre stage and managed to teeter between heartbreaking fragility and unshakable power.
Powering through her set and picking out some tracks from her first album, it made clear the progression in her return and how much deeper she has searched her insecurities to make what was one of the most special albums of last year.
“I’m just one person so there is no distracting transition so you’ll just have to wait,” she explained as she moved between her instruments to play ‘Televangelist’. At the piano, the reverence took on a whole new dimension as the organ tone in the track swelled. It was a holy experience.
Fleshing out her sound, Julien’s addition of a violinist for ‘Hurt Less’ is everything and that extra texture in ‘Sour Breath’ is absolutely devastating as she outpours, “The harder I swim, the faster I sink” over again.
Ending with ‘Something’, it brought the set to a fitting, blissful, finale.
It was a streamlined but perfect showcase of all that makes Julien Baker so special.
The minimalist instrumentation allows her stunning vocals and beautiful lyrics take centre stage. It was an oversized stage to take on and, while it looked big on her, she has enough talent to grow into it and make it her own in years to come.