Jesca Hoop

Troubadour - October 17, 2007

Live Review and Photography by Alexis Roberts

What a quirky girl. While opening for Matt Pond PA, I have a feeling that Jesca Hoop stole the limelight from them just slightly with her goofy newspaper dress and silly stage banter.

Although Hoop is tiny, she’s very hard to miss. Her black curly hair was up in a messy style on top of her head to complement the dress that she was wearing - which appeared to be made out of newspapers (she later informed us that it had come all the way from Ireland, and had not been washed in three weeks so that it was perfectly “ripe”).  Her band was comprised of a bunch of different people who kept rotating on and off the stage depending on which song she was playing and she also had two girl backup singers up there with her. As if the stage wasn’t crowded enough, she also had a plethora of faux plant life all over the place, giving the stage a very Fern Gully feel.

Hoop's deep jazzy voice and mellow acoustic guitar driven songs were a big hit with the crowd as they shouted out how much they loved her in between songs. She’s not the kind of person to ignore audience comments either, as she partook in several conversations in between songs.

Her set, which was actually a heaping portion of songs for an opening act, ended by her requesting that everyone come say hello to her after the show and to buy her record. Why?  Because, according to her, they are orphans and all need a good home.