By Ziggy Merritt
A sold-out night at Johnny Brenda’s is not the most comfortable experience. Packed in like sardines, there’s more than likely someone taller than you in the crowd who always happens to stand just in front of you no matter how close you are to the stage. These are the trials and tribulations of any concert experience for the six-foot-and-under demographic. But when you’re in the midst of the dreamy quartet that comprises the touring band of one Julia Holter, these things seem to fall by the wayside.
Julia Holter. Photo by Ziggy Merritt
With the release of Have You In My Wilderness late last September, one of her more accessible and intimate releases to date, Holter’s current tour also sees her return to Philadelphia after nearly three years. In that time she’s composed and released Ekstasis and Loud City Song, both releases playing with the loose genres of baroque and avant garde pop. Her latest offering adds the distinctive sound of the harpsichord into an ensemble of viola, bass, percussion, and Julia’s own scintillating vocals.
Joining her for the tour was Haley Fohr, otherwise known as Circuit des Yeux, whose deep operatic vocals, sinister reverb, and horror-tinged eccentricities amped the crowd up for Holter’s set. To be candid, I went into the performance without having heard much of Fohr’s music. With no expectations, Fohr’s inimitable style won not just mine, but the generous praise of the room that evening.
Circuit des Yeux. Photo by Ziggy Merritt
Similarly, I had little idea of what to expect from Holter’s live performance. By night’s end, she had covered the breadth of her experience as an artist with some personal favorites in “Goddess Eyes” from the mystifying Ekstasis and the encore of “Sea Calls Me Home” from her most recent album. Fleshing out the encore was an unexpected cover of the Dionne Warwick staple, “Don’t Make Me Over.” Holter’s innate talent as a performer shown through as she rendered it as she might have any other track on her latest collection of ballads. Due credit must also go to the touring act who brought to life Holter’s orchestral ambitions, something that could very well have fallen flat under less gifted hands.
