Indigo Girls at Shepherds Bush

I had the pleasure of seeing the Indigo Girls - Amy and Emily - at Shepherds Bush this evening. It was a first for me, never having seen them before and it was quite a thrill to have them standing up there on the stage in front of me. They played for about 1.40 hours and then came back on for an encore. The show was all accoustic, just the two of them plus occasional augmentation by a woman playing an accordion. The set was a mix of classics and tracks from the new album, 'Despite Our Differences'.

When I arrived at Shepherds Bush it was full to capacity (which is a good thing) but I've never seen so many women with short hair in the same space before, it was quite strange until I noticed that I wasn't the only man there. Naturally, I find a space behind the tallest lads there... and just beside the women that want to talk throughout the gig... so I moved behind the central bar and not only had an excellent view of the lasses but I had Guinness on tap in front of me.

I've never seen the lasses before so wasn't sure what to expect but they came on to do an accoustic set and they sounded fine. Very simple and very effective. Amy in anti-Bush tee-shirt and red tartan trews and Emily in Soviet star tee-shirt and faded jeans, taking turns at vocal duties and changing guitars after almost every song with a simple light show going on around them.

The highlights for me were 'Closer To Fine', their first hit and a song that will forever evoke walking across Clapham Common to get a bus from Clapham Junction in the summer of 1989. It was excellent and everyone joined in singing it. I also loved the accoustic version of 'Go' (a really powerful song) and 'Chickenman' which I couldn't imagine without Budgie's mad drumming but it worked well. 'Power of Two' and 'Ghost' were quite touching as were 'Three Hits' and 'Little Perrennials' from the new album.

All in all, it was a good night out and I'd definitely see them again.