THE CADBURY SISTERS AT THE LANTERN

June 2015

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It’s almost impossible to imagine writing something that isn’t about the Cadbury Sisters at the moment, and I’m sure you’re well and truly up to date with their whereabouts by now (if not, then where the hell have you been, you ignorant little tart) So we might as well go one further and put it all together in one, big, compacted gig review to round off what has been a great month for the ladies.

 

Playing the 15th day of their 17 day tour (and the one that singer and drummer, Jess, proclaimed was the show they were most looking forward to) the ladies were still as full of energy as (one can only imagine) they were on their opening night.

However, I’m getting ahead of myself; before the Cadbury Sisters stole the limelight, both Little Dusty and Rebecca Clements filled the archaic hall with their impassioned voices.  Little Dusty went up first, and I have to admit, I expected a very similar set up to the Cadbury Sisters; a lone angelic voice, almost fragile at times, with beautiful acoustic backing- and this was more or less what happened.

 

The lead singer was very talented: think Lauren Mayberry’s voice mixed with a kind of Lianne La Havas sultry range, all the while maintaining a Feist-like French delicateness – to be honest, this description makes it sound like there’s a lot more going on than there actually is; fronted by excellent vocal control, Little Dusty has a very smooth and mellow sound, they’re a lo-fi, folk-pop group (in keeping with the theme of the evening) and they were the perfect opener for the aged, classic setting of the Lantern. I would particularly recommend checking out song, ‘Running’, to get a proper grip on their potential. 

 

Donning a leather jacket, heeled chelseas and with her electric guitar slung across her torso (...and jeans, and a t-shirt, and socks...etc.), Rebecca Clarke took over the Lantern with her powerful vocals and lots of sass. I remember thinking she reminded me little of Kate Nash; her accent comes through in her singing, and I almost thought this might ruin it a bit, but in fact it gave her set a lot of character. Not having heard her before, I found that the most engaging part of this set was her audience interaction; beginning song, ‘Nicotine’, Rebecca said; “This is a love song... and I apologise ‘cause it’s proper depressing’, and then having changed her mind after fiddling about with the intro to The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, she jumped over to the piano exclaiming, “I’m not supposed to play this because the men in white suits don’t want me to”.

...I have to admit, she did lose me a bit there, but being very relatable, she was very easy to watch. I also particularly enjoyed ‘Lovechild’. It seemed an excellent mastery of relying purely on guitar and vocals, whilst keeping a very steady rhythm. I’d definitely give this song some time, even just to read through the lyrics. But out of all them I loved ‘Wildlife’, for me watching her play this was a particularly memorable moment of the evening and if nothing else, I urge you go away and listen to this (but obviously, I would prefer you carried on reading....).

 

And now we come to the ladies of the evening; those wonderful Cadbury sisters. Setting up, they were dramatically concealed in matching black hoodies and what appeared to be black masks across their eyes, before dramatically ruling centre stage in their distinctive black-on black outfits, and what struck me as the most dramatic of all the dramatic things I’ve just outlined is that no one ever explained what those black masks were about, nor did they ever get brought out again... very enigmatic. In fact, I still can’t stop thinking about it (WHY?!).

 

Nonetheless, it was a truly remarkable set. They were on-point right from their first song, ‘Lolita’ and it was so lovely to finally get to see the girls live. I can’t even begin to tell you how much better they are live, and they’re truly great in their recorded tracks, so hopefully that’s some indication. Harmonically, they couldn’t have picked a better venue; when the girls all sang together their voices would crescendo and echo around the hall and at the risk of this next sentence making you wince, they sent shivers down my spine (deal with it).

 

They made their way through their new EP, whilst playing some older tracks too, which many of their long-standing fans quite loudly expressed their gratification for. The Cadbury Sisters also played their cover of ‘Make me Smile’; set out in a minor key, the sisters slow the tempo down and transform this classic into a song that might even fool some into believing it was one of their own. Except that it’s a particularly famous song, so, you know... it didn’t. 

They then played ‘You Choose’, a personal favourite of mine and by the sound of it, a favourite of many other people too and yes, you guessed it, they even played ‘Drifting’. Need I say anymore.

 

What was a seated gig for the majority of the night had everyone standing by the penultimate song; Lucy threw a tambourine out to the audience during ‘Get This Feeling’ and started dancing in the centre of the stage. It was a lovely intimate set, and it ended on a great high.

“We are what we say on the tin. We’re the Cadburys and we’re sisters” the girls said. But watching them sign hand-printed cards and take the time to chat with their supporters and friends, as everyone jostles to praise them, you can’t help but feel that they’re a lot more than that.

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