Photo: WENN
"Oh my," blushes Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan during her Shepherds Bush gig -there's a lairy lady at the back causing a fuss. Someone's had a few too many. "You're well fucking fit - like, massively," she hollers from the back of the first tier.
"Right," replies Khan, "music time, I think," before kicking into the fastest rendition of 'Horse And I' that you're ever likely to hear. But in her humility lies the charm of Bat for Lashes: the music and her performance make the spectacle - not her 'eccentricity' or 'wacky' character.
Standing at the edge of a reasonably bare and dimly-lit stage in a simple black frock, the Khan that treads the boards in Shepherds Bush Empire tonight seems a million miles from the feathers and headress toting extrovert that first grabbed our attention in 2006. As the luscious strings, minimal beats and sweet refrain of "Thank God i'm alive" on opener 'Lilles' fill this majestic venue, you can tell that she means it. This is Bat For Lashes at her most comfortable, and certainly her best.
In stripping away her past extravagances, there feels like much less of barrier between performer and artist in what was an already very intimate approach to music - especially on the utterly heavenly and tender 'Bat's Mouth'. "That was a very romantic one," she smiles afterwards. "It's about falling in love - we've not played it in a while."
The personal significance of this evening is not lost on anyone. Not only are the entire Khan clan dominating the majority of the balcony ("give them a wave," she pleads), but it's also the last UK show of her Haunted Man campaign, in a year that has seen her reach more hearts and minds than ever before. The level of adulation saved for newer numbers like the subtle ectasy of 'Oh Yeah' and the glitchy darkness of 'All Your Gold' now surpasses that of older fan favourites like the chilling 'Horse And I' and truly bewitching 'Siren Song'.
The pregnant silence that hangs in the air for first set closer of 'Laura' screams with the idea that Bat For Lashes now exists in a world of her own - a beautiful world free of other reference points and gimmicks.
"This is a one-off cover we have never played before," she says intrediply, brushing her hair behind her ears as she sits behind a piano to return for an encore. "It's a song by one of my favourite ladies so I'm going to try and do it some justice." And how - listen to Natasha Khan pumping 'Rhiannon' by Fleetwood Mac with a sea of sentiment below:
Closing with newly envigorated and rave-fuelled renditions of 'Winter Fields' and 'Daniel', Natasha Khan bids farewell to her hometown crowd: "It has been good fun touring this album and hopefully I'll be back with another record soon."
Don't be too long please. Music is a far more spectacular place with you in it.
Bat For Lashes played:
'Lilies'
'What's a Girl to Do?'
'Glass'
'Bat’s Mouth'
'Oh Yeah'
'All Your Gold'
'Marilyn'
'Horse and I'
'Siren Song'
'Sleep Alone'
'Rest Your Head'
'A Wall'
'The Haunted Man'
'Laura'
Encore:
'Rihannon'
'Winter Fields'
'Daniel'
