Over their long career Kristin Hersh’s Throwing Muses have toured with Pixies and REM, but for fans a reunion with step-sister and former bandmate Tanya Donelly was always going to be pretty special.
In the early days Donelly had provided a sweeter indie-pop edge to Hersh’s angular post-punk influenced sound – and so the double-header felt like a game of two halves.
Backed by a stripped-down rhythm section of acoustic guitar, cello and minimal percussion, Donelly cherry-picked from more than 20 years of songs, including newbie Meteor Shower, and Belly’s Dusted, Low Red Moon, and a brilliant Slow Dog. The inclusion of her best Throwing Muses songs Honeychain and Not Too Soon, suggesting an onstage reunion wasn’t necessarily going to happen tonight.
Hersh’s tight power trio set-up provided a much darker atmosphere, opening with Sunray Venus from latest album Purgatory/Paradise.
The sound took in influences ranging from swampy Americana to desert blues, with Hersh pumping out powerful angular chords on her guitar and emoting in a cracked raspy voice.
Donelly’s return to the stage for a mid-set collection of early Throwing Muses tracks, including Devil’s Roof, Red Shoes, Say Goodbye, and her own Green, proved to be the highlight, as the two elements combined once more - although the Throwing Muses trio’s second encore of a breath-taking Pearl left the crowd stomping for more.
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