I saw this woman a few weeks ago at Bardot, and here she was again, playing with the same professionalism and effortless talent in front of the Hudson Block Party crowd,… which got in fire after her performance. I still don’t understand how such a voice is still unknown, but it shouldn’t last as she conquered her audience as soon as she opened her mouth and reached the high stratosphere. I mean if Adele can sell 9 million records, LP (for Laura Pergolizzi) can at least do the same. Her voice is a combination of several things, but thanks to her operatic range, there is probably not a note she can’t reach.
Looking tiny in her skinny jeans and men vest, she was on charge in front of her five musicians playing guitar, bass, keyboard, drums and even violin, picking up her small ukulele on some songs, or just holding the mic and letting her power-house pipes being center stage. In this beer-party filled by more than a few drunk people, she was impossible to miss, all eyes were turned toward the stage, all iPhones and beer glasses risen in harmony, and many people were already singing along, possibly without even knowing the songs.
‘What's your name?’ screamed someone in the crowd, ‘My name is LP’, she just said while keeping this interesting grin at the corner of her mouth ,… She has only released one EP ‘Into the Wild’ and she did more or less the same set than last time I saw her, singing all the songs off her EP, starting with ‘Levitator’, obviously closing with the big bombastic song ‘Into The Wild’, after a few others like the very poppy-sounding-familiar-at-the-first-time ‘Wasted Love’, ‘Tokyo Sunrise’, the super-operatic ‘Someday’, and a few others.
The emotional tension was intact and her irresistible-epic-catchy tunes made the audience quite crazy. Did you say catchy? It is more than that, the songs are super-sticky, with a blasting reach-the-ceiling grandiosity, and an immediacy while she reaches the high notes, or moans like a younger Chrissie Hynde or even whistle like a guy.
‘This song is about heartbreaker and pain’ she said before one of her songs, and people applauded as if she was announcing them a round of free beers. Like last time, she had an immediate and natural connection with her audience, and she even sang acappella a few lines of Jefferson Airplane ‘White Rabbit’ to announce the following band (Brooklyn’s own White Rabbits).
Ok she has the amazing fly-away croon, the ready-for-radio-earworm tunes, and the confidence of a true performer? Again I don’t get it,… but people LOVED her, so this should only be a matter of time.