Lucy Dacus + Fenne Lily – Live @ Norwich Arts Centre
aaamusic | On 29, Oct 2018
Monday 22nd October, Norwich
There have been various campaigns this year celebrating women in rock, namely a commitment to a gender equality which was drawn up by Keychange and the PRS Foundation with Festival Republic pledging a 50/50 gender equality push for the festivals they run. Also, the band Stealing Sheep’s Suffragette Tribute marking the centenary of women’s suffrage quoting, “we want to make a bold statement, bring women together and get loud!”
Norwich Arts Centre ia seemingly celebrating this by showcasing two brilliant female performers tonight with Lucy Dacus and the lesser known (but surely soon to be huge) Fenne Lily.
Fenne Lily is a British singer-songwriter based in Bristol and she displays a confidence tonight that says that she deserves to be a future rising star. Her songs are intelligent, heartfelt but hopeful and above all her singing is super soft with an underlying anger hidden within. Although her songs are written from a place of sadness – it’s impossible not to get all emotional when she sings ‘For A While’ – Fenne’s biggest fear is “people thinking that I’m wallowing in feelings – because I’m not.”. Her set is made up with songs from her debut album ‘On Hold’ and she also showcases two new untitled songs which are both brilliant and both say she is one to watch for the future.
Lucy Dacus from Richmond, Virginia, on the other hand is already established on the festival circuit even though she is not a household name yet. Tonight, she showcases her second album ‘Historian’, which is a soulful affair which isn’t afraid to rock out with some great guitar riffs which are fully evident in this live performance. The band gel together well and are clearly having a whale of a time, with plenty of hair flinging, smiles and despite the sadness and pain in some of the lyrics, there is a great feel-good factor running through the set. Best song of the night is ‘Pillar of Truth’ dedicated to her Grandma with the line “I am weak looking at you/A pillar of truth/Turning to dust” really hitting home and pulling at the heartstrings
Lucy Dacus doesn’t like encores and thinks they are ‘kind of lame’ so she breezes through the whole set with no ‘pointless’ breaks and finishes with ‘Historian’, with just her guitar and the most powerful instrument – that voice.
