Live: The Staves @ Sacred Trinity Church

The Staves
Sacred Trinity Church
24^th November
4 Stars

People behave better in church; everyone here is absurdly polite and you certainly won’t find any antisocial piss bottle antics here. The tiny room is packed with people of all ages sitting cross legged on the carpet and the set is minimally decorated, with just a few fairy lights lining the amp, which makes for an intimate atmosphere; sort of like story time at primary school.

The delightfully timid Rae Morris opens tonight with a promising set; compared to her awkward banter between songs, her powerful singing voice comes as a shock. Paul Thomas Saunders, who followed her set, was even more cripplingly shy, barely able to utter a word to the audience between songs and hidden behind a thick mop of dark hair. In spite of this, he leads the band with confidence. The music is technical stuff and the band use their instruments in interesting ways to create atmosphere. The songs generally start off well, but at times they drift and I find myself easily distracted. It’s technical, brooding, musical prodigy stuff, which comes as a contrast to the light-hearted, personable Staves who headline the show tonight.

The Staves are a choir of 3 young sisters, with angelic voices, folky tones and complex harmonies. Tonight they are appropriately dressed in sensible Sunday school attire; long sleeves and sensible necklines, with their locks flowing freely. Their personalities contrast their appearance and they have 2 major swearing slip ups within the first 15 minutes, for which they jokingly apologise. They are likeable, down to earth and at times hilarious, which goes down well with the crowd. Think Laura Marling multiplied by three with an added Sunday school vibe.

The Staves – Mexico