Review: She Makes War, Old Bookshop

Laura Kidd, aka She Makes War, has been putting on her own gigs for years and has a remarkable knack of turning each one into something special. Maybe it’s the quality acts she hand selects, maybe it’s the fiercely loyal followers she has a talent for attracting or maybe it’s the intimate venues she picks. Whatever it is, it works.

Tonight sees less than 100 people crammed into the beautifully quaint Old Bookshop south of the river. Adorned with select pieces of taxidermy and other antiques, it seems like less of a music venue and more of some eccentric old man/woman’s living room. Having heard support act Forgery Lit almost blow the roof off the Louisiana, I did wonder how this would fit.

The stage is barely big enough to house a band, which may be what prompted opening act The Lasting Days‘ decision to play an acoustic set as a two piece instead of the plugged in five piece they usually walk the boards as. Consisting of frontman Richard Smith and multi-instrumentalist and one of the best vocalists in Bristol (check out her solo stuff!) Sarah Proudfoot, they play a beautiful set of folk-drenched indie. Stunning strings compliment the catchy tunes, such as Speakeasy. With sniffs of Johnny Flynn and Show of Hands and a George Ezra-esque growl to his vocals at the end, it makes for compelling watching.

Forgery Lit are introduced, by Laura, as one of the best bands in Bristol at the moment and by the end of the set there’s not many people who’d argue with that description. The victims of this tiny stage and the fact the lead singer is also the drummer means the majority of the crowd is faced with two tall, cool guitarists dressed in black jamming with questions over where the hell the angsty, incredible female vocals are coming from *cue waves from Ami at the back*. Driving the structure with intense drumming, Ami also provides the focal point for many of the songs with her Alison Mosshart-style singing. It’s full of substance, style and sass – ‘You’re the cool one, I’m the optimist,’ she spits in The Optimist. They end the set with a more funky number, ‘Control’…Juliette Lewis eat your heart out.

You might expect She Makes War to attract a riot grrrl heavy audience (her twitter name’s @warriorgrrl), but judging by the audience here and at many of her gigs she clearly speaks to an older male audience too. Some sing along, others rock out and a few look visibly moved with tears welling up in their eyes during poignant slow numbers such as The Best.

Laura’s joined on stage by guitarist Simon (who’s over from Berlin) and Forgery Lit’s drummer Ami, which add another dimension to her Britpop-inspired gloom pop. She’s about to head off on tour with these guys and despite only playing together occasionally to-date have merged to form a tight outfit. There’s some familiar elements to most She Makes War gigs – a couple of sing-alongs with In This Boat and Scared To Capsize and her signature meander through the crowd with megaphone, the luscious looping of Delete and the angsty crescendo of Not In My Name and In Cold Blood. The latter two are excellently executed rocky numbers creating a feeling of solidarity and hope. New song Paperthin leaves us with a promising taster of things to come.

The no-nonsense grace with which she handles a couple of audience members having a loud chat during one of her songs is brilliant and stops them dead in their tracks but doesn’t leave them embarrassed or pissed off, instead they leave the gig commenting on what an awesome lady she is. That’s how you do it!

Photo by Tom Sparey