đź•’ This article is more than 5 years old (Published Nov 13, 2017).
“You all are getting a lot of double chin from that angle,” Jessie Ware humorously pointed out to fans in the first row when she asked everyone to put away their smartphones before the last two songs of her San Francisco set list.
Her remark might sound like unattractive hubris, but for a concert of top-notch content, it was completely justified. Swirling around the entire block that night, the queue for Jessie Ware’s concert last Wednesday was indeed a clear indication that a high-quality show was about to take place at The Independent. The sold-out concert, however, was not a consequence of the inceptive media hype that surrounded Ware’s debut half a decade ago. After five years of maturing musical career and three well-received albums, Jessie Ware somehow remained a hidden gem of the British R&B scene.
The new tour follows the release of her long-awaited third record Glasshouse, which could explain the exhilarating atmosphere that overtook The Independent that night, but it would be fair to say that almost everyone at the show was there to pay long-lasting respect to her music. In many ways, the collective anticipation of Ware’s arrival felt like an esoteric euphoria, privy only to those who have closely followed her career. Even DJ Omar, who performed an hour-long set—including well-suited club hits like Moloko’s “Sing it Back”—to warm up the audience, snatched his mic more than once to express his excitement for Ware’s performance.
When she finally entered the stage, opening with “Thinking About You,” it was apparent that the show was going to be a heartfelt performance. Backed by an ensemble of skilled musicians and backing vocalists, Ware instantaneously delivered pitch-perfect vocals, and the lyrical content of her inherently emotional songs became even more palpable in the venue’s intimate setting.
The set list, interestingly, was reflective of her devoted fandom and the sustained respect she had garnered in niche circles over the last few years. Although the tour was intended to promote her newest album, only about a third of the songs were Glasshouse material. The rest, from hit debut singles “Running” and “Wildest Moments” to sophomore follow-ups “Tough Love” and “Champagne Kisses,” were thoughtfully-picked tracks from the first two albums, which altogether transformed the concert into something that felt like a retrospective exhibition of Ware’s music.
So, it might not come as a surprise then that theatrics had no place in her repertoire. Stopping after songs to describe her recent stomach flu misadventures, jokingly lamenting over a zealous fan who stole her spotlight during a New York concert, and chatting with freshly-minted parents in the audience about the bittersweet lessons of parenthood, she did not care for staging a highbrow show.
The entire concert easily resembled a late-night gathering of close friends, during which Jessie Ware incidentally performed a dozen songs for sheer entertainment. Perhaps this was because theatrics could never complement the lush and spontaneous sound of her phenomenal band or because Ware has no aspiration to transcend her status of London’s well-kept musical gem. I would say it’s because her unassuming and charming personality would never find fulfillment in flamboyancy.
Yet, notwithstanding its endearing quality, there was something frightening and venerating in her stage persona. Between verses, she would often move away her microphone and lean forward, gazing directly into audience members—which I was lucky to experience myself—with a cheeky smile, as if she wanted to make it clear that she demanded undivided attention.
In those moments, people would slowly lower their smartphones, uncomfortably trying to avoid her persistent eye contact, in what was possibly the greatest revelation of the night: that Jessie Ware is not just an entertainer but a formidable figure of an honest and loving woman.
Cover photo courtesy of Gus Stewart.