Basia Bulat @ The Fly, 1 June 2007

This gig was only three weeks ago, but it seems like a lifetime away now. There’s a hell of a lot happened to me since then. But even though it’s late, I though it was worth writing a bit about it because firstly it was my last gig as a childless (man and probably my last gig for a while), and secondly because it was just really good.

Like her album release, Basia Bulat’s appearance in London over this weekend was a bit low-key. On the week her record came out, I found it hard to track down a copy of the excellent Oh, My Darling in major record stores (of course I found it in the ever-reliable Rough Trade). And for her first visit to London, Basia didn’t seem to be seeking the limelight in headline slots. Oh no. For her it was a place quite far down the bill at Adem’s Homefires Festival, and two days before, a gig as ostensible support act in this night put on by the nice people at A Badge of Friendship.

So after a set of agreeable and unusually jolly post rock from Future Corpses, Basia took to the tiny stage downstairs at The Fly with her band. “I’m from the other London” she told us. That’s London, Ontario to you, and despite the promise of inherited indie-cool just for coming from Canada these days, this lot don’t need it. They’re too good for that. Basia fronts the band (which also includes her brother Bobby on drums) with her autoharp and guitar, singing songs from the aforementioned album, which as I’ve told you previously is quite a lovely thing. And live, the songs are every bit as lovely, enhanced by Basia’s sweet, smiley charm.

She obviously had fun, we enjoyed watching her. In the end the set was all too short, but there was enough to make me hope for a quick return to this London for Bulat and her band, next time in a more prominent way. That’s the least she deserves. And hopefully by then, I’ll be able to make it out.

Download: Basia Bulat – Before I Knew

Buy Oh, My Darling