There was a palpable buzz inside Liverpool’s Jacaranda as Violet Grohl stepped onto the stage. After a summer spent playing considerably larger stages, including this year’s Leeds and Reading Festivals, it must be quite a strange experience to be so close to the audience, in such an intimate venue. No festival field, no sprawling crowd, just a packed room waiting to see what she can do.
Violet opened with ‘Stimulant’, immediately settling into a calm, self-assured presence. Her vocals were soft and yearning, cutting through the room without ever needing to overpower it. There was an understated confidence to Violet’s performance tonight – she didn’t demand attention, just quietly held it.
‘Bug in the Cake’ was a particular highlight. The intimacy of the Jacaranda only seems to make its ’90s alt-rock riff feel bigger, with the crowd quickly pulled into its groove.
Then came ‘595’, pushing the set into darker territory. Live, the song takes on an almost sinister sensuality, its atmosphere filling the room as Violet leans into something murkier and more magnetic. It clearly resonated: almost immediately, voices from the crowd rose up alongside hers.
The set closed with the dreamy, slow-burning ‘Plastic Couch’, leaving the room suspended somewhere between intimacy and anticipation.
Tonight felt a rare chance to see an artist right on the cusp of taking off. There’s still a sense of an artist figuring out exactly what she wants to become, but that’s part of the appeal. If this is where Violet Grohl is starting, it’ll be fascinating to see where she takes it next.