By: Lauren Garbutt (@LaurenGarbutt1) –
Laura Marling. (Photo: Lauren Garbutt/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
Toronto’s 99 Sudbury found itself the host of 23-year-old English folk singer Laura Marling last night as part of her ongoing tour promoting her new album, Once I Was An Eagle, out May 27.
Opening the show was Toronto’s own Devin Cuddy of the Devin Cuddy Band, son of Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo fame. While normally playing as a full band, Cuddy chose to play solo on this night with only a piano and his voice.
Playing a blend of his own work and some cover songs including “Big Show” by Kevin Quain, Cuddy entertained the crowd with his unique sound – a refreshing fusion of jazz and New Orleans style blues with some old timey piano playing and soulful vocals. He began with a few of his original pieces, with the stand out being “I Got A Girl”, and he closed his set by covering “Money That I Love” by Randy Newman. His performance was stimulating, unique, and a great way to prepare the audience for Laura Marling, who took the stage soon after.
Met with intense applause as she approached the microphone to begin her hour-long set for her fourth Toronto appearance to date, Laura Marling began with works from her new album Once I Was An Eagle. Unlike previous tours, Marling was without her band and instead performed acoustically, which reflected the arrangements of most of her new songs.
She combined her first four songs together to create a sweeping and beautiful medley. Performing “Take The Night Off”, “I Was An Eagle”, “I Know” and “Breathe”, Marling performed these songs without rest with the room quietly reveling in her soft croon.
Marling’s growth is evident throughout her new songs and during her recent performances. Her lyrics are honest, confident and enrapturing, exploring the concepts of love and relationships and making references to childhood and birds such as the lyrics, “When we were in love/I was an eagle/and you were a dove”. Her guitar playing has also evolved, and she explained onstage that the performance would include seven different tunings.
Marling’s numerous on stage tunings also made room for a lot of casual banter, which included her detailing how her parents always let her know about how many articles discuss how long she takes for tuning on stage. Marling took this with a grain of salt, however, and her fans were by no means put off by the tunings as they only enabled them to be entertained by Marling’s stories about air travel troubles and how she rented a car and drove herself from Chicago to Toronto to make it to the show.
Her stripped down, intimate performance included both new and older songs, including “Sophia”, “Blackberry Stone”, “I Speak Because I Can”, and her new single, “Master Hunter”, and it came as no surprise to fans who have seen her perform before that she didn’t perform an encore. However, this didn’t the roaring crowd from giving her a standing ovation as she left the stage.
This tour is about simplicity and practicality, as Marling put it. She is travelling alone with only two guitars and no merchandise, playing solo for every date, practicing her new mantra, “be gentle, [and] be calm”. This says a lot about Laura Marling as an individual and fans will relish in this unique opportunity to see her so open and intimate.
Aesthetic Magazine | Album Reviews, Concert Photography, Interviews, Contests 
Shame you had such a loud obnoxious camera in such a beautiful, quiet and acoustic performance, especially from a performer who is so shy and reluctant to be photographed. Laura looked really perturbed and flinched each time you took a photo.
Posted by Billie | May 26, 2013, 9:20 pmI had a great time. I don’t think the photographer even took that many pictures, I didn’t even notice her. Laura is amazing!
Posted by Dawn | May 28, 2013, 2:13 pm