Music / Reviews
Review: Self Esteem, Bristol Beacon – ‘Magnificently theatrical wizardry’
On Friday at the Bristol Beacon, Rebecca Lucy Taylor asked the sold-out crowd who will be coming back to see her back on this same stage on Saturday and Sunday.
A cheer was expected: as Self Esteem, Rebecca has a devoted fanbase who yelled lines from her songs back to her during this first night of her Bristol residency.
This happened the loudest during I Do This All the Time from her Mercury-nominated 2022 album Prioritise Pleasure.
is needed now More than ever
But this tour is to celebrate her most recent release, A Complicated Woman, with the Handmaid’s Tale-esque cover artwork featuring in the outfits at the start of this magnificently theatrical show.
From the opening notes of I Do and I Don’t Care sung by a chorus of eight women who would also become backing dancers and hype girls, it was clear that this was going to be a very special evening – how lucky are those fans who will be seeing this again and again.
Spoken word morphed into haunting harmonies. “If I’m so empowered, why am I such a coward? If I’m so strong, why am I broken?”
The rest of the night saw Rebecca, with the help of those around her, be lifted back up to such a state of revelry that she left the stage in a conga line to This is My Life by Shirley Bassey.
The Handmaid’s Tale aesthetic was strong in the opening to Self Esteem’s first night at the Bristol Beacon – photo: Martin Booth
Nadine Shah described playing between Self Esteem and Moonchild Sanelly as “the best sandwich I have ever existed in in my life”, calling the pair “the two most brilliant women in the music industry”.
This reviewer is going to add one more woman to the mix: Abi Ward, otherwise known as DJ Awardz, who serenaded the stalls bar after this gig until midnight.
After their support slots, both Nadine Shah and Moonlight Sanelly joined Self Esteem, first Shah for Lies still in the Handmaid’s Tale aesthetics and then Sanelly for In Plain Sight.
“I’ve had a right few shit days feeling shit and this is worth it,” said Rebecca as red and green inflatable tube figures joined her and the dancers on stage in a Flaming Lips touch to proceedings that had started in stark black and white.
“This tour is the best thing ever,” Rebecca added. “It’s made quite a depressed woman a whole lot better.”
Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem, called Bristol her “spiritual home” – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
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