It’s hard to imagine a better band for a Saturday night than Brooklyn-based trio, Say She She. If you’ve heard their 2023 album, Silver, then you already know to expect an evening of exhilarating disco. Indeed, a number of people in the audience have arrived in their finest sparkles.
The show was originally set to take place at the much smaller Thekla before being upgraded to SWX following a rush of ticket sales. Even then, this larger capacity show sold out months in advance with resale tickets hard to come by. It’s clear that it could have been upgraded further or had an extra night added to meet demand.
A significant proportion of the audience arrive early enough to catch tonight’s opener, Welsh-born but London-based soul singer and producer, Nia Wyn. It’s a confident, technically accomplished performance with a unique and powerful vocal. Nia already feels one Graham Norton performance away from mainstream crossover.
Say She She arrive on stage a few minutes after the scheduled start time of 8.45pm and there is some concern in the audience about how they will finish the set before the early 10pm curfew to make way for the club night which follows. However, the band take an all-killer, no-filler approach to the show with little in the way of talking between bangers.
Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, the ladies open with ‘Reeling’ and ‘Cest si bon’ which were the two songs that introduced a lot of people to them through their appearance on Later with Jools Holland last year. It is a bold move to begin with these popular songs and one which ensures that the Bristol crowd are in the mood for dancing from the first beat.
Nya, Sabrina and Piya are exceptional vocalists. Throughout the set they each get several moments to shine individually as they weave a range of vocal styles into their infectious tunes. The crowd responds enthusiastically to every trill, punctuating each impressive vocal run with a collective roar. When they come together, the harmonies threaten to take the roof off SWX; particularly on album highlights ‘Don’t You Dare Stop’ and ‘Astral Plane’.
The band wear their influences proudly. Imagine what you’d want to get from a band whose name is quite obviously inspired by Chic and be assured that this show delivered all of that and more; Nile Rodgers-esque guitar lines, vocal harmonies and gymnastics to rival bands like The Three Degrees, playful choreography straight out of Top of the Pops re-runs and, most importantly, killer songs.
Having said that, Say She She are no pastiche. It’s a fresh take on classic disco with a cacophony of genres explored along the way; it’s psychedelic, funky, soulful and outrageously good fun.
The encore begins with an impassioned performance of 6 Music favourite, ‘Bleeding Heart’, where Nya gets to showcase her lower register in a song that takes so many sonic twists and turns along the way. The audience are then asked to face each other rather than the stage and dance away to a faithful and energetic rendition of The Jackson Sisters’ ‘I Believe in Miracles’. Security may be ushering the crowd out to make way for the club night but the real party had already happened with a band on their way to even bigger rooms.
Written By Ryan Simmonds
Photos by Craig J Simmonds Media
