Photos: Remy Connolly
(click on top image to begin slideshow)
Despite many a main stage festival appearance over the last 2 years, Molly Sterling played her first headline (sold out) show to date Upstairs in Whelan's last night with support from local groove armada Innrspace.
Man did I enjoy the support act, effortlessly commanding the audience's, and my own, attention from start to finish. The three-piece played out some seriously groovy and chilled out songs, a jazz and funk fusion dripping with honey. It was old school, and for once it didn't take me long to think of what it reminded me of, an absolute gem of a record I discovered by fluke a few years ago, Thom Janusz' 1975 album Ronn Forella...moves! In a way they managed to clear the clutter from our heads before Sterling and band took to the stage, mindfulness for the soul and head.
Unsurprisingly Molly Sterling's opener was mood-driven, with the room low-lit and silenced, the first taste of what was to be an emotionally powerful set. On reflection the performance was split in two, a first half of delicate melancholy, and a second of sheer driven heft. Singles 'Plain Static', 'Stripped Down' and most recent release 'Feeble' were all delivered with a bare rawness that can only leave a mark on those present. Covering a genuine humility with humour in between songs, brevity is an important ingredient to her shows, because whilst the themes are heavy and sometimes dark, the overall feeling is one of enjoyment, both for the band and us. It was shared with us the cyclical anxiety Sterling felt followed around by when they first got together almost 3 years ago, and how she has been made stronger and less inclined towards those demons because of the support and kinship with her band. That bond, which I have mentioned before, is plain to see for even the most casual observer. Without it, maybe some of the magical spark that litters the performance would be missing, maybe.
Another point to note was how each show progressively climbs up a ladder of change and dynamic, I've seen Sterling 5 times now I think and noticed a big change at Hard Working Class Heroes last year, a special night, but it wasn't going to be a repeat. The word I heard from a number of people afterwards, which struck me during the show too, was power, and it was in abundance last night. The final song before the encore was magnificent, guitars, cello and percussion all whipped into a frenzy around that heart-breaking vocal that makes you want to smile and cry simultaneously. Always at pains to thank everyone, show sincere gratitude and a keen self-awareness, Molly Sterling makes it easy for us to find her likeable as an individual, but this is a bonus, without which her music would still speak for itself, and for us.
