Bat For Lashes @ Bowery Ballroom NYC

Natasha Khan is a force. This sounds completely cliche until you actually see Bat For Lashes perform live, and then you walk out of the Bowery Ballroom thinking, "Natasha Khan is a force!" The show started late. Late like the opening act (Lewis & Clark) that was supposed to start at 8:30pm took to the stage at about 9:30pm-ish. Lewis & Clark was actually quite a good time: Low key ballads mostly (five of them. every last one...a waltz. curious). Lovely, really. But the tardiness of an opening act can only herald the even tardier-ness of the main attraction. And once you're crammed up against the stage, there's really not much wiggle room in your psyche for waiting around. You want Bat For Lashes, and you want Bat For Lashes now.

When Bat For Lashes took to the stage, the crowd went bananas. And understandably so. Natasha came out in a leopard print tank top, dark chocolate, skin tight pants with some sort of reptile texture to them, black knee-high boots, ruffled lace collar with matching fingerless gloves, and her signature sparkle of make-up around the eyes. Few women could pull off an outfit like that, but Natasha slipped into it like a second skin. In a backhanded compliment sort of way, listening to a Bat For Lashes album on constant repeat is a superb music-listening experience (I’ve done the research on this one; it’s 100% true), but pales greatly in comparison to seeing her perform live. The live show is positively transformative. If you heard one of her cd’s (Fur & Gold or Two Suns), and thought, “Hey, that’s pretty good. Yeah, I’d go see her live,” then by the time she hits song number three on the set list, you will be a fully converted Natasha Khan acolyte. The funny thing is, there’s nothing all that spectacular about the show itself. Natasha is not a larger than life idol sort. She sort of wanders onto the stage in the unassuming manner of a back-up vocalist. The only difference being that she takes center stage instead of hugging the periphery. She’s a lithe, slight sort of girl. Her make-up is fun and creative, but by no means over the top for someone headlining a sold out show. She moves to the music and is genuinely moved by her own expression and the crowd response, but there are no hysterical theatrics. She doesn’t roll around on the floor or dive from the stage into the awaiting arms of her rabid fans. Since there are none of the usual “underground-come-indie rock phenom” antics, there can only be one reason that the show is so powerful. That reason is Natasha herself. Her voice. Her songs. Her creative vision. Natasha Khan is Bat For Lashes. Put it this way: I’m pretty sure she’s a couple years my junior, but I still want to be her when I grow up.

Apart from the clear purity in vocal tone that really just isn’t done justice on the record, the other facet of the live show that doesn't come across quite as strongly on the recording is how powerful the drums are. I want to be Natasha…but I want her drummer to be my best friend. That girl kicks ass! As well she should. Sarah Jones, of New Young Pony Club fame, definitely knows her way around a drum kit. She made being at the show akin to standing at the center of a thunder storm amidst a severe weather alert.

The towering sound of the drums completely envelops you. Add Sarah's backing vocals and it makes the faerie land created by Natasha's writing and singing all the more complete.

With Ben Christophers on keys and Charlotte Hatherley on...well, on everything else (autoharp, bass, guitar, percussion, accordion, keys and backing vocals - take your pick), the entire show was like being lost in some enchanted forest at night.

From the lead-off of Two Suns' first track, Glass, opening the show, two different versions of Daniel (a paired down version accompanied by the autoharp and the big, synth-heavy album version), and crowd moving favorites Sarah, Prescilla, and Horse & I, it's difficult to pick out the high points of a show that really had no lows. They pretty much started at OHMYGOD!!! and kept it steady there for the rest of the performance. Take a gander at the set list...

The word on the street: go see Bat For Lashes on tour now because the next time they come around it may be at a much bigger, less intimate venue, and cost you three times as much. Besides, you want to be able to tell your friends you knew Bat For Lashes was cool before everyone else did.

Here's a little snippet of Horse & I so you can see what you missed...