Posted in: Current News, Music, Pop Culture | Tagged: Clara Moschetta, Elba Rose, Freddie Joon

Elba Rose, Freddie Joon and Clara Moschetta, Last Night at Folklore

Taking a trip with Elba Rose, Freddie Joon and Clara Moschetta, late last night at London's Folklore Hoxton

I went to see singer/songwriters Elba Rose, Freddie Joon, and Clara Moschetta perform at Folklore in Hoxton, London, last night. I'd found Elba on TikTok, and she'd place a few earworms in my head. The ticket was less than a tenner, so I thought, why not? Well, there may have been a couple of good ones, but I chose to ignore them. The gigs I'd been to most lately, like Cud or Shed Seven, have been full of fifty-year-old types like me. This was not that; this was full of impossibly cool twenty-somethings in an impossibly cool venue that seemed some weird cross between a Nightmare Before Christmas and Moulin Rouge. Still, I ordered an impossibly priced drink or two, and I coped.

Clara Moschetta, or ClaraMakesMusic on most social media, was new to me, but I have been doing deep dives since. Patrtly apologising for when her songs got too political or dark, she always juxtaposed that with a cheery facade, and major keys in her itinery. Cheekbones, a break-up song written when she was eighteen, was a raw standout.

Freddie Joon, also new to me, seems to be a stellar actor in the making as well as a great singer/songwriter, with an 80s pop infusion mixed with a 2010s diva, in the realms of Lucky Soul with a strong electronica beat rather than strings, looping herself life on stage, and performing every song as if it was occurring to her at the moment. An embodiment of fun, even in the darker times, she literally made us scream. You Chose Her was a real highlight.

And headliner Elba Rose, an introspective flop from self-examination to rage, is an absolute star, somewhere between Jarvis Cocker and David Bowie. The performance suffered, if anything, from her mike being a few notches down and the keyboard a few notches too high, turning up the mumblecore. I wanted to hear more of Sleep Paralysis… but the likes of Live Wire kicked through with full force and reinforced a whole bunch of earworms. I also met people outside who had driven down from Wakefield to see her, which put my cycle from Putney to Hoxton in the shade. So worth the trip.

It was a great night, out of my usual comfort zone, and far more connected than any stadium show could ever be. I'll be watching (and listening) to all three, and looking for for any similar gigs in the near future. All receive the highest recommendation. And I'll be back to Folklore too…

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