“I’m feeling a little out of sorts,” Channy Leaneagh muttered after “Fist Teeth Money,” the bass humming in the air after a delightful rendition. I couldn’t help but feel deflated after hearing the lead vocalist divulge feelings of disappointment about her performance that night. In the wuthering throes of spectacle, Leaneagh appeared assertive, sparkling, and aligned with the rest of the band, but after each combined rush of percussion at the end of a song, she would apologize for how nervous she felt. The Empire was packed to the rafters, a sold-out show for an act with just one album to their name, but who come with substantial celebrity props.
I followed C-Monster’s lead and took my young lady to the gig, or rather, she took me. I wasn’t too geared up about seeing Poliça live because of how their debut, Give You The Ghost, comes across; it’s eerie, illustrious, and beautiful pop that’s so personal it sounds purpose-built for small venues and private playback. Perhaps that’s an unfair judgement call, perhaps not; “There are so many of you,” Leaneagh said somewhere between one auto-tuned frenzy and another. The band played for just more than an hour, which was enough time to hammer every track on their album along with a couple of new songs, much to my gal’s delight. There were screams, whistles, and rapturous applause, but very little movement from the crowd, which was transfixed on the singer as she pranced awkwardly amongst the bass player and two drummers. She seemed fragile, but constantly trying to overcome her anxiety by belting most of the material in a different key to the record, which sounded bold and spirited on tracks like “Darkstar” and “I See My Mother,” but fell considerably flat on the much-anticipated “Lay Your Cards Out”.
We had seats on the first upper level, which gave us a near perfect view — the Empire is an impressive venue, large enough to hold 2,000 people while retaining a degree of intimacy. Only on this occasion, the most intimate moments were shared by Leaneagh and the band, as opposed to the performers and their audience; the singer was so unsettled she darted off stage after the encore without so much as a “Goodnight, London!” They played a new track to finish, which proceeded a gorgeous a capella version of “When I Was A Young Girl”. Those two songs remain our personal highlights of the evening, and a glimmer of promise that Poliça’s new material is going to live up to the growing reputation they have hurriedly crafted — I just hope Leaneagh is ready for it.
[Photos: Carolina Faruolo]
