Parenthetical Girls, The Dome, Tufnell Park

A bloody freezing night at Tufnell Park’s The Dome and Upset The Rhythm is renamed Upset The Record. Well, not really, but perhaps it should have been. Y’see each act tonight achieves the BEST possible of standard live performance. Every record is improved upon, and let’s face it, this lot have made some pretty awesome ones.

Fairly well kept secret High Places turn delicacy into live intricacies with real aplomb and Phil ‘my life is a sideproject’ Elverum eeks out the solemnities already present in Mount Eerie’s ‘Lost Wisdom’ to transform the album into something heart-wrenchingly, arm shakingly, oh gosh I want lie in yr arms forever brilliant. ‘O My Heart’ proves particularly so.

Yet it’s Parenthetical Girls who really indulge in proper showmanship. Zac Pennington postures, gestures and pours effort into every warbling note of Safe As Houses and theatrically blasts ‘Song for Ellie Greenwich’ and ‘Windmills’ off of latest one ‘Entanglements’.

‘One Sister, Another’ wafts beautifully through the air, its ghostly quiet only being slightly interrupted by buzzing audience that SHOULD KNOW BETTER. ‘Love Connection Pt.II’ by contrast manages to tinkle quite literally through the [silenced] venue thanks to Pennington’s inability to stay on the stage. While the other members switch and swap behind him, regrouping around the drum kit for an ace-cover finale, it’s further evidence of a perfectly balanced set list.

For their first tour EVER in the UK [which DIY still finds hard to believe] it’s all in all performance that puts even other UTR shows, let alone some of the dirgey stuff on stage in London tonight, to shame. So good in fact that DIY took a trip to Manchester a day later to see them again. And we’ll let you in on secret. That was even better.