Paloma Faith – The Glorification Of Sadness Tour
The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
11th April 2024
Paloma Faith returns for two nights at the Bridgewater Hall, promoting her dark yet sassy heartbreak album to her devoted fanbase, all following along to see where this emotional journey takes her. MK Bennett dances away the heartache.
Sometimes, it’s impossible to reach your friends, bear their pain, to understand. Sometimes they just need you to be there, in the room, and to let them vent while you hold them. Love or grief, which is in any case just love with nowhere to go, broken hearts, broken dreams, sometimes, you just have to move through the ends of things without choice. The artist often channels their energies into the work, and if you’re Fleetwood Mac say, your best and best-known songs become entwined in a politic between the artists and the art, whether you want the information or not. It might be interesting, as the life of a stranger often is, but gossip rarely inspires beauty. Or as Paloma more succinctly put it, “Maybe my pain can become a cash cow”.
Essentially her own support act, half the bills but twice the work, “First I’m going to play the album, then after the break, there will be a Paloma Tribute act, which will also be me”, never knowingly shy or short of conversation, this still seems an accidentally heartbreaking admission on a par with the old Pagliacci joke. The crowd, who adore her without malice, a mix of women crossing every societal boundary and men with fabulous hair, are so onside they could be watching a football team, so tribal are the allegiances to her. Starting by breaking the unwritten rule that you never leave silence in a Mancunian theatre, she virtually vogues down the optical illusion centre stage, a runway from this angle, and starts with the highly sassy and hugely Palomaesque How You Leave A Man, all funk and no drama, still defiant, eyeliner intact. Staging remains quite subtle so far, even the outfit is a toned-down affair by Paloma’s standards, a nude and gold metallic body fitting rubber ensemble that morphs her into Debbie Harry.
God In A Dress and the future anthem Bad Woman continue in this wheelhouse, but the greatest defiance requires a comedown, a slowing of the needle,and the song Divorce is with us. Starting on record with the assumed sound of her kids, she is visibly not comfortable with the words, not enough distance yet from the act itself. But she is loved and supported and knows it and finishes the song with a little help, before bringing it back up again. The set, arranged differently from the album despite only missing the Kojey Radical duet, is more of the obviously thematic and theatric run of the break-up process starting with defiance, then sadness (Divorce), anger (Hate When You’re Happy, Eat Shit And Die), resolution (the Toni Braxton meets Lady Gaga genius of Let It Ride), finishing the set with album highlight and future encore Sweatpants a song about being relaxed without having to wear masks around those you love, without judgement.
At this point, a small & beautiful golden ghost appears, walking across the back of the seats, just a couple of feet away, absolute trust in her fanbase to carry her across, lost to the music, while some of us can only sit and smile, knocked out by an apparition.
A note about the staging, The Bridgewater Hall is beautiful and ornate. Purpose-built for higher culture but accommodating to the rest of us too, the sound is perfect, arguably mixed better than the album, and the lighting by the esteemed Frankie was the most empathetic light show possible, matching mood rather than spectacle, though we occasionally got that too, she is hopefully the new generation of staging. There was also a marriage proposal, and thankfully he said yes, and the best talk about merchandise from a stage possibly ever. There were some levels of entertainment you just do not normally see at a show.
Part two starts with Paloma in another mask, a sparkly blue outfit with a black wig, like Minelli in Cabaret, if set in Las Vegas and not Berlin. Now we are into the hits set and the atmosphere is changed, loosened up because this is a book we have read before and know the ending to, no-one has torn out the last page, these emotions are preordained, more or less, as she powers through the pop fantasia’s past of Stone Cold Sober and Picking Up The Pieces, Upside Down, and the wonderful Can’t Rely On You, before a ten minute mini Rave, while a whole room of happy people Big Fish Little Fish Cardboard Box to two of her dance collaborations (Lullaby and Changing). It’s quite something to witness.
For those who have waited for it, those who needed the Paloma high note have already been amply treated this evening, but the last song of the night is Only Love Can Hurt Like This and there’s a trembling anticipation in the air, knowing it is coming, it is a cathartic release for some here and a physical reaction when it arrives, as all the air leaves the room at once. Paloma Faith puts her heart out on the line and leaves it to be examined and pecked over because there is nothing more human than failure. She is your best friend, your fairy godmother, the common touch with an uncommon talent.
Please note: Use of these images in any form without permission is illegal. If you wish to use /purchase or license any images please contact mel@mudkissphotography.co.uk
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Paloma Faith’s website is here: palomafaith.com. She’s also on Facebook and Twitter, as @Palomafaith
All words by MK Bennett, you can find his author’s archive here plus his Twitter and Instagram
All photos by Melanie Smith (red outfit 2nd night) – Louder Than War | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Portfolio
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