I saw Imogen Heap about a week ago and it was seriously one of the most inspiring live shows I've ever been to! When I came home I was inspired to just sit at my piano and write music. Here is a review of her show that I wrote for a local publication if you're interested:
A Heap of Inspiration (tee hee puns)
Sitting in a cozy chair surrounded by ornately beautiful furnishings and listening to a close friend chat and sing about old flames, new loves, things lost, and the strange peculiarities of life. That is what it felt like to be at the Imogen Heap concert at the Palais Theatre last night.
Heap is easily one of the most accessible pop stars in an industry saturated by disgustingly glamorous, paparazzi-fleeing unobtainables. Before the show, she casually strolls on stage and politely says hello to the audience as if she’s greeting good friends. Not yet stage ready and still in an old t-shirt and flip-flops, she doesn’t care in the slightest, happily explaining to the audience that she wanted to make sure she introduced the support act (Pikelet, a quirky array of clever little sounds from Melbourne) who she hand-picked herself.
The stage set-up for Heap’s show is charming; a hollowed out grand piano surrounded by an interesting exhibition of other strange and wonderful musical instruments. Suspended above the stage is an old willow tree branch littered in fairy lights and accommodating an assortment of cymbals hanging down from its limbs, making for a beautifully curious image. However, when Heap officially breezes onto the stage for her set, you realise that it is not only her delightful charisma and pretty props that make her an amazing artist.
Musically, the show was a truly unique experience. Somehow, Heap manages to conduct her electronic wizardry and musical looping in a spectacularly organic manner. Equipped with a wireless vocal microphone and wireless wrist microphones, Heap meanders amongst the stage and unveils her talent for making such captivating sounds on a fascinating variety of instruments, both conventional and unconventional – at one point even using crystal wine glasses filled with water. Joined on stage by an adroit percussionist and cellist, together with Heap’s enchantingly unique voice, the room is simply laden with beautiful sounds.
Playing fan favourites such as ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘Let Go,’ Heap manages to reach into her fanbase in the most intimate of ways, teaching the audience to sing the harmonies to ‘Just For Now,’ creating a choir of voices backing her magnificent acapella version of the song, and having profound conversations before each track about each one's inception. Such a unique and engaging performance left little doubt for Heap’s eccentric musical talent and enthralling personality. Imogen Heap; a truly enchanting and inspiring performance that I will remember for a very long time.
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