Photo Credit: Joan Bowlen
It’s surprising, and quite rare indeed, when a performer is younger than the average age of the audience in attendance; however, 22 year-old Niki Roza Danilova, better known as Zola Jesus, drew such a crowd to her performance at the historic Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last night. Also, few singers her age command the stage with such a gravity of presence and sophistication, which in turn helps augment her already mysterious persona. While the esoteric melodrama of the show became somewhat contrived at points, Zola Jesus and her band managed to captivate the audience, showcase their talents as musicians and bring many of their songs to exciting new life.
The 70-minute set included the entirety of new album Conatus (2011), and a couple of selections from both the Stridulum (2010) and Valusia (2010) EPs. Opening with “Swords,” smoke billowed out from machines onto the stage, shrouding Danilova and her three bandmates as they entered before launching into a high energy take on “Avalanche.” On either side of her sat two translucent white cubes, which changed color throughout the songs, creating an eerily wonderful effect when further illuminated by the overhead strobes. Otherwise, the stage setup was fairly sparse, with synths on stage right, Christiana Key on electric violin behind Danilova and then drums on stage left. But the relative minimalism of the layout did not detract from the show. Strings of LEDs, video panels and other lighting equipment may have added a frenetic quality that may be great for a band like Grimes or Glasser, but there’s a weight to a Zola Jesus show that doesn’t require a lot of bells and whistles. Maybe it’s that Danilova’s voice sounds timeless and ethereal without being flighty, or perhaps it’s her engaging but not overly affectionate demeanor that suggests this difference. The stage acted as somewhat of an uncomplicated blank canvas, upon which Danilova poured emotion out to the audience through warm lights, enormous drums, silky synths and that voice that continues to resonate in one’s ears long after the end of the show.
Still, there’s plenty of room for growth when it comes to Zola Jesus’ show. There’s hardly any interaction with the band, and the fact that Danilova didn’t even introduce the other three musicians on stage seemed particularly odd. Each player conveyed a deep sense of connection to the music and the performance, but there wasn’t much chemistry between them as a band. This leads to the impression that the others are there simply to provide accompaniment for Danilova. Why, then, have them at all? A lot of the music could be programmed effectively, and Danilova could probably perform solo with a computer and drum machine, which might in fact increase her access to concert-goers. Also, the middle section of the set dragged because the songs began to run together in a monotonous sea of mid-tempo art-industrial ether. While the difficulty of deciphering Zola Jesus’ lyrics is not really a nuisance, since so much of the music is about the ambiance and timbre of Danilova’s voice, a more thoughtful pacing of the show would have helped keep everyone’s focus tigher. When Danilova and Key returned to perform the ballad “Skin” from Conatus, it became apparent right away how pleasant the shift in tempo was, and how it urged the audience to pay closer attention because it was so different. This is also perhaps one of the major downfalls of the new album, but Zola Jesus is not in short supply of material to fill a headlining show, so maybe digging into The Spoils or Stridulum for some other tracks to vary the pace of the show would add considerable strength to the set.
While it’s clear they’re still refining the spectacle that is Zola Jesus, there’s still so much to love at this moment in the band’s career. There’s a roundness, depth and maturity to these songs that is lacking in many of the works of their contemporaries, and when they’re presented live, so many of the pieces grow and ripen in warmth and grandeur. If they ever sound cold on record, when a Zola Jesus song is brought to the stage, it blossoms and expands to fill the room and fills out with heightened intensity. Catharsis is critical to a Zola Jesus show, and Danilova certainly knows how to work a crowd, and at many points throughout the concert there’s the crash of drums against the frantic strobe lights and Danilova running across the stage wailing, and the audience can’t help but dance along and feel energy pouring over and through them. The goth-y, darker cousin of Florence Welch, Zola Jesus definitely gives their patrons a show worth remembering.
Photo Credit: Joan Bowlen
Setlist:
Swords
Avalanche
Hikikomori
Stridulum
Collapse
Sea Talk
In Your Nature
Shivers
Seekir
Lick The Palm Of The Burning Handshake
Night
Ixode
Vessel
Encore:
Skin
Poor Animal
