It is our third trip to Wasing in a week and our third excellent headline set. Seventy-five electric minutes of righteous feminism courtesy of the incomparable Self Esteem.
The support tonight is from Biscuit Club and Dogsbody. Biscuit Club are an all female trio who do a nice line in summery guitars and vocal harmonies. Dogsbody are a six piece who go in for slower, earnest songs with a cello and violin string section. It isn’t either band’s fault, but we can’t help feeling a little bit short changed in the knowledge that Self Esteem’s appearance at Cardiff at the end of July has Kae Tempest and Joshua Idehen supporting! It is also fairly quiet. We had been told music started at seven, so we were rather surprised to find the first band ten minutes into their set when we reached the Mount itself at 6:25. If Wasing comes back next year, and it is such a unique venue it would be a shame if it didn’t, communication to audiences really needs a step up. Barely any staff on site knew what time anything was on each night we came, so the audiences didn’t really stand a chance. Even when Saint Etienne posted their set time on Instagram last weekend it ended up being wrong.
Anyway, back to Biscuit Club and they score extra points from us for covering one of our favourite bands. That band is Crowded House and the song is ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over.’
Self Esteem
A small, but formidable, live band, and no less than seven backing singers are out before Rebecca Lucy Taylor appears. She and the singers are all clad in clothing reminiscent of both the US pilgrims and The Handmaid’s Tale.
The backing singers are straight into the harmonies for ‘I Do and I Don’t Care’ before Taylor begins to unleash her powerful stream of consciousness musings. The front couple of rows are belting out every single word along with her. As she hits the powerful chorus of:
“If I’m so empowered, why am I such a coward?
If I’m so strong, why am I broken?”
It is already absolutely electric and we have barely got going. Those silly and annoying human males continue to get it in the neck as she segues straight into ‘Mother:’
“I am not your mother and nor should you want me to be
Falling asleep on my chest is your fantasy
But where does that leave me?
Who’s holding me?
I am not your therapist, you don’t pay me”
The righteous anger hits like a wave, rolling in on superb backing beat after superb backing beat as we progress through the songs. There is barely a pause for breath through the first four. Eventually she stops to say hello, and to apologise for all the swearing, having realised there are quite a few kids present. ’69’ is most definitely not child friendly!!
The Handmaid costumes are removed to reveal sportier apparel underneath. Whilst this is not a complicated set (a backing screen, a set of school hall style chairs, a couple of gym benches and a few props), the choreography is thought through and highly effective.
‘Prioritise Pleasure’ and ‘F*****g Wizardry’ both get deployed a lot earlier than we were anticipating. The latter is a reminder of how brilliant Self Esteem’s singles are despite most of them not following any standard rules of songwriting. There is a reason the Prioritise Pleasure album was top of a whole heap of album of the year lists back in 2021.
‘The Curse’ sounds equally epic. It is the utterly confessional warts and all vocals that make Self Esteem’s work so vital, so immediate, so compelling. She picks up a guitar for it that reminds you what a great multi-instrumentalist she is, as well as an incredible vocalist. ‘In Plain Sight’ reminds us that we really should have gone to see Moonchild Sanelly when she appeared at The Facebar in Reading earlier in the year. Here she appears in video form on the backing screen.
The entirely harmonised start of ‘What Now’ sends shivers down the spine. Taylor takes a moment to explain she has been suffering from a lot of self doubt and difficult thoughts lately. It seems bizarre when you consider she has been appearing in the West End, touring a phenomenal album and has been filming various TV acting projects. Being human is complicated. Taylor explains that singing these songs for us makes her feel a lot better.
Taylor brings the main set to an end with ‘The Deep Blue Okay.’ When she introduces it with “This is the last song” it is very clear that it won’t be. The theatricality of an encore clearly appeals to her as much as appearing on stage to act does.
The encore features the huge Prioritise Pleasure set-piece honesty of ‘I Do This All The Time.’ We get one final reminder of the harmonised brilliance of A Complicated Woman in the staggeringly gorgeous ‘Focus Is Power.’ Seventy-five minutes has absolutely flown by. We all could have enjoyed a few more tracks, though no one in the crowd is leaving feeling cheated. Rebecca Lucy Taylor is one of the most important artists of our time. Whilst women continue to strive for true equality, whilst the rights of women are under attack again from Conservative powers across the globe her voice and her perspective is absolutely essential.
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