Holly Golightly at The Lexington

The Lexington last night was rammed and buzzing; everyone was really excited, dressed up to the nines and ready for the Holly Golightly Christmas gig. Word was that she is really on form, and the word was right.
With a Guild guitar in hand set permanently to tremolo, a double bass player, an ace guitarist and an ace drummer, she led us by hand through dark swampy-textured music with shades of Northern Soul and Bo Diddley; her songs of love and loss were sung in a unique, sweet voice that could ramp up the power whenever she needed it. Boy, can she carry a tune! Languid and charming as a front person, she allowed her band plenty of rope to contribute their own styles to her songs, while still being authoritative and utterly engaging. There was rhythm, there was space, there was emotion, melody: everything to keep you with them through a mesmerising set. One of the best things about Holly is that she hasn't got pop-star-itis. Her between-songs banter is down-to-earth and still definitely English although she now lives in the US. This inspires a huge amount of affection from the audience, who roared along with a lot of of the songs- and Debbie Smith could be seen dancing very enthusiastically at the side of the stage. Fave song of the night was I Can't Stand It.







The support band were fab too; more on that later!
Got her album and can't wait to listen.