A review of the Kimya Dawson gig at The Duke of Yorks cinema in Brighton on Saturday May 10th 2008.

who is kimya dawson?

Kimya Dawson was one half of The Moldy Peaches, along with Adam Green. She recently had a number of her songs featured in the hit indie film Juno. She’s released 5 solo albums of lo-fi songs, and contributed on records by a range of artists including Mountain Goats, Third Eye Blind, Ben Kweller and They Might Be Giants.

the music

All the songs tonight were played by Kimya on her own with just her guitar, which is unsurprising considering thats exactly how they sound on record (albeit with backing singers). The tunes and guitar one one song sounds very much like the next, but the lyrics are what makes them special. Each one tells a little story, or comments on some aspect of Kimya’s life.

These lyrics are quite open and frank, touching on people Kimya knew dying, friends she misses, her childhood and other more general stuff. I wasn’t sure if they were autobiographical until tonight, she was asked to play one song by a member of the audience but explained she couldn’t since it was written when she’d fallen out with a friend who she since made up with, so she’d stopped playing the song. Assuming the lyrics are all about real stuff, some of them are incredibly moving, and from that moment on the gig seemed more like peeping into someone’s soul than a simple concert.

In many ways Kimyas music is quite childish, which makes the fact her next album is aimed at children quite appropriate. She played a bunch of songs from this forthcoming album, with songs about animals, splishing and splashing, and some rather complex advice about sharing that kids might not quite get, especially the more political elements of the song. Very funny, and an album I reckon everyone will get to some degree, young or old.

Here’s one of the song’s from that album:

4/5

stage presence and banter

Kimya was very chatty, and much of the conversation was related to Kimya’s daughter, Panda, a little girl who was in the audience with her father and kept running down the aisle to see Mummy. This made the gig feel even more special, and when Kimya dedicated a song to her, she started to make lots of noises - probably just a coincidence, but a very poignant one.

Kimya is a real character, and looks quite unlike she sounds on record, with many tattoos and the look of someone who’s really lived, perhaps not always happily. She certainly seems cheery now though, and comes across as a lovely person, although perhaps a bit scatty and distracted. Spending the evening in her company leaves you with a very warm feeling inside.

5/5

the audience and venue

The Duke of York’s doesn’t always work well as a gig venue, sometimes they have bands that don’t really suit the seated environment. Tonight however it seems like the perfect venue, especially considering the amount of films Kimya has had songs in recently. As well as Juno and a few others, she also had songs featured in the film ‘Glue’ and the director happened to be in the audience.

The venue was sold out so it was a packed house. The audience were very enthusiastic, joining in wherever required, especially during the support act where we had to pretend to be a space ship taking off. People kept quiet where needed and with the exception of a few latecomers wandering up and down the aisles the audience were near perfect.

Shame they weren’t quite as enthusiastic as these guys though:

(loose lips performed live at The Knitting Factory, New York)

4/5

the support

The support ‘Your Heart Breaks’ was very similar to Kimya in style, a female solo performer with a guitar. She did have the addition of a loop machine to layer vocals, tapped out rhythms and her guitar which made for a bigger sound. The songs were quirky and fun, and Kimya came on to help out for the last number. More of the same though, I would have liked to have seen Kimya’s husband in support, as he often does.

The gig was introduced by Everett True, the former NME journalist and Kurt Cobain’s friend. Kimya seemed a bit touchy around him though, asking him beforehand to be nice, and calling him a prick after the gig. Not sure why he was there, whether she was joking or what was going on there really!

3/5

overall

A great gig with some really moving moments.

4.5/5

more kimya dawson

Kimya’s myspace seems exactly the right place for her, myspace being pretty lo-fi itself. There’s a bunch of videos, some songs, tour dates and a big intro written by Kimya about her life and where she came from.

The official Kimya Dawson site is quite old school, with the a fan forum and the usual stuff. Its a bit awkward to get around though.

There’s an interesting interview with Ellen Page, star of Juno about why she choose Kimya Dawson to feature in the film.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Gig Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.