Asaf Avidan at Union Chapel

9^th May 2018

Cristiana Ferrauti

Cristiana Ferrauti

9 May 2018

Asaf Avidan powerfully captivated the Union Chapel’s audience with a melodic journey through visceral emotions. For the London stop of his new tour, The Study of Falling, the artist passionately performed some of his most distinctive hits.

The Israeli singer’s typical high-pitched voice got a warm up with the opening No Stone Unturned; his vocals are still modelled on a good spectrum of melodies. But the real potential of Avidan arrived in a crescendo. The artist loves to experiment and pick on hidden feelings through an energetic set of tones. With To Love Another, he played with the trickling effects of the arpeggio, recreating soft dripping sounds.

No piercing voice entered the realm of gentle My Old Pain, into which some hints of folk and soft pop were incorporated. “With the years, I have come to realise that believing in love is believing in miracles,” stated the singer, while introducing the song with a couple of anecdotes about his cough and a broken heart still tireless in searching for hope.

The pinnacle of the night came in a track that brilliantly channelled the impetuous rage which Avidan claims is, so far, the only thing he finds at the bottom of his continuous digging into human feelings. As the performer tells himself, this is the source of – and the everyday motivation for – his melodic explorations. Over Your Blues was the perfect summary of it all. With harmonica and guitar in full swing as the unspoken protagonists of the show, the musician proved his musical prowess in his ability to handle the instruments, shift rhythm and hit the mark with an apt punchline in the lyrics.

Bang Bang belonged to a completely different register. A kaleidoscope of sounds – thanks to an electronic drum providing unconventional percussion – this was an interesting creative performance. At times, the experimentation went well beyond a certain line. A complex arrangement of distortions and reverberations for Her Lies and Your Anchor developed these pieces into electronic compositions, extreme in some sequences and rather difficult to harmoniously digest.

The expected Reckoning Song (One Day) was another peak of the concert. The live instrumental introduction lasted longer than the recorded version, allowing the audience to gradually immerse themselves into the suggestive atmosphere further provided by the venue. As for the rest of the night, the artist inserted stories throughout the performance, softly accompanying the words with the rhythmic plucking of strings and the melodic modulations of his voice.

Cristiana Ferrauti
Photos: Nick Bennett

For further information and future events visit Asaf Avidan’s website here.

Watch the video for Over Your Blues here: