One of my favourite aspects of dropping into London for concerts is getting to visit different areas of the city. London often strikes me as many different towns awkwardly pushed together, each one with its own unique feel and identity, and after all these years of popping in, I still don’t really feel that I know the place well. Fortunately, seeking out live music has the added by-product of taking me to areas I haven’t spent much time in, or in some cases have never been to at all. After seeing Lizzie No in Islington and Lianne La Havas in Deptford, this time I was heading to the London Borough of Hackney to see US country singer Brittney Spencer.
Brittney Spencer, from Baltimore, first appeared on the country scene in 2020, and since then has become one of the genre’s foremost rising stars. Over the course of this year alone, she has released her debut album My Stupid Life, appeared as a guest vocalist on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter, and was invited to hit the road as part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour.
At one stop on the tour, cameras captured a hooded figure, dressed in far too many layers for the sweltering heat, quietly watching Brittney’s set from the wings. It was none other than her Outlaw tourmate Bob Dylan.
Mr Dylan’s music has been something of a musical North Star to me over the years, pointing the way to a wide variety of music I might never have discovered otherwise, and his interest in Brittney Spencer’s show convinced me to check out her concert in London. This would be Brittney’s first London performance as a headliner (following an appearance at British Summer Time Hyde Park last year) and would take place at Paper Dress Vintage, a venue that is an actual vintage clothing store by day but transforms into a music venue by night.
Attending this show was a chance to witness first hand the cultural impact of the aforementioned Cowboy Carter. Judging by some of the t-shirts on display I got the sense that most of the crowd had become aware of Brittney through her appearance on that album. Despite it being a small space, this was one of the most diverse audiences I have ever been a part of; ages ranged from 20s to 70s and everything in between, and it really felt as though almost every different type of person you could imagine was in attendance. Just before showtime, a striking 6’ 5” drag queen in elaborate purple robes glided through the crowd and found a space at the right of the stage.
This was also the first show I have been to where the opening act was a line-dancing instructor giving a lesson. When I mentioned line-dancing two articles ago while talking about Lizzie No’s music video for her song “The Heartbreak Store,” I could scarcely have imagined that I would myself be line-dancing just a few weeks later, but this is how the universe works.
I’d like to tell you that I discovered a previously undiscovered talent for line-dancing, but that would simply not be true. However, it was fun, and everyone joined in (including Brittney Spencer herself).
The show itself featured songs from My Stupid Life and some older material, plus a moving performance of “Blackbird” and Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” Brittney mostly played acoustic guitar accompanied by electric guitar and drums – and occasionally two guitars, as the drummer dramatically abandoned his drumkit to reveal that he was also a guitarist. Brittney is a commanding performer who started singing as a child in church, and her style reflects that; she seemed happiest when the crowd was singing along with her, and appeared humbled by their familiarity with her songs.
As I said in reference to Lizzie No two articles ago, I have no doubt that Brittney Spencer will be playing much larger venues on future visits, and felt privileged to see her perform in such a small space.
This is the final part (for now) of what has turned out to be a totally unplanned series of London gig reviews. If there is an overarching theme to these pieces, it is that there is so much wonderful live music taking place in small venues, usually for a very reasonable price (this show, for example, cost £20 per ticket).
The Music Venues Trust’s Annual Report for 2023 revealed that a staggering 125 grassroots music venues in the UK either stopped hosting live music or closed their doors entirely throughout the year, often due to rising rents and energy prices making them financially unviable. Likewise, the cost of touring for emerging artists has risen dramatically, often making it unsustainable to go on the road. This is in sharp contrast to stadium and arena level acts, who – as you may have noticed - are doing record business. Both small venues and up-and coming performers need our support, now more than ever.