It was a sold out show, with a number of new faces in the audience as well as friends and family members, and Chloe was on top form both musically and during her spoken interludes - her barbed and well-timed wit is a wonder to behold ("Thank you, you guys have been so kind to me -- so far").
The sheer size of the set says a lot about the point Chloe has reached in her career: she's amassed a very impressive body of work; all rich, heartfelt songs, expressing a different part of her character and a different element of her experience. And although she has performed many of these songs many times (she's already, at 18, a veteran live performer) - and I've heard some of them a few times, too - as an audience member you always get the sense that you're experiencing something unique and special. There’s a feeling that she's performing just for you. Chloe is always fully emotionally engaged, and pours her whole self into her music.
There was much more to the set than I can write about now, but I'll share some impressions. The first is the boldness with which Chloe opened: she used a backing track to create atmosphere before she walked on (the first time I've seen her do this), and then to good effect in 'Sorry'. This song features big vocals, which she executed confidently and flawlessly despite this being so soon in the set.
In 'Michael', she encouraged early audience participation by giving out percussion instruments to (selected) people; she premiered a piano version of 'On That Day'; and her version of 'Wallflower' was slower and more reflective than I’ve heard before. In that song - and 'My Time' much later in the set - I was struck with a real sense of Chloe's confidence and maturity. She wrote both of these some years ago and sings them now with a new perspective and depth.
There were guests on stage, too, which introduced some interesting variance (Dong-Woo playing an awesome fretless bass for a couple of numbers, a school friend Lucy duetting on 'Without Him', and Niall shredding on electric guitar for 'Lies').
Her second set opened with 'Alone' - a song which starts with impressive acapella vocals before Chloe adds in acoustic guitar. 'Stars' was new to me, and apparently a favourite of Chloe's - it's really good to hear an artist enjoying and owning her own work.
And the final part of the set ended with a series of slightly darker, dramatically-poetic songs: 'Fun', written from the perspective of a stalker, and 'Pristine', in which the character sees things through to an inevitably grisly end. Her two encores included 'Ready', which showed off her impressive vocal range, and ability to switch around that range without missing a beat, or a breath.
This was a well thought out and accomplished display of prowess from Chloe, who showed again that she is an artist who doesn't rest on her laurels. There are exciting things ahead for Chloe - as well as formally releasing 'Love Life & Lies', she is about to start working on her next album with U.S. pianist DC Collard. As she builds a bank of excellent and very personal music, importantly, she’s also taking time to consider how best to present that music to her audiences, how to entertain as well as express her art, and above all, how to press onwards and upwards.
Date of gig: 21 October 2023.
Full setlist:
Sorry
Michael
On That Day
Wallflower
Chains
Birthdays In June
Somebody's Someone
Breathe
When You
Without Him
Lies
In The Arms of Morpheus
(Interlude)
Alone
Entertain
Stars
Crowd Pleaser
My Time
Burn
Fun
Pristine
Encore:
Ready
Alive
Listen to Chloe's previous releases below: