Live music review: Julia Jacklin sold out Mohawk last Friday

Julia Jacklin seemed cautious, uneasy, or maybe a bit nervous taking the stage for the first show of her tour at Mohawk on Friday, September 9. It was a sold out show to send off Jacklin with a new album Pre Pleasure fresh from release (August 26, Polyvinyl) and ready for the stage. Maybe it’s fitting as she has found her audience sharing the most uneasy aspects of her emotional life, revolving mostly around relationships and her detailed exploration and navigation of these experiences? And she has found that audience relatively quietly, while this one of several sold out shows on the new tour would indicate that her audience is growing in size rapidly. 

Taking the stage after opener, singer/songwriter Kara Jackson, who received an exuberant response from the crowd for her performance, Jacklin greeted the audience with a soft smile, taking time to wave to the eager crowd, then quietly began the evening’s joyous emotional journey with “Be Careful With Yourself” from her recently released Pre Pleasure. “Please stop smoking/Want your life to last a long time…” seems a selfless line to begin the song which ultimately is really about Jacklin’s plans to maintain a long relationship with the person mentioned in her own personal pursuit to have them a part of her life well into the future.

Presumably, once again, a love in her life featured as a recurring co-star in her songs. Carefully testing the waters with the newly released material, Jacklin spent the better portion of the first half of the set touching on some older familiars, introducing her recurring relationship with her body and mind with the second selection of the evening “Head Alone” from the Crushing release. Throughout the performance each song found Jacklin becoming more comfortable with the shared experience of her intimate exploration of her personal relationship with her mind, body, and soul. A well executed musical exploration that has struck a chord with her audience securing a dedicated relationship based on common life experiences. 

After a short string of tracks from the newly released record including a song that is destined to grow her fan base “Love, Try Not To Let Go” and before sinking deep into the emotionally drenched “Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You”, Jacklin shared joy in the fact that the audience’s familiarity with the new material validated her effort.

Jacklin’s lyrics and music are impressive enough on their own but she has surrounded herself with a band that brings her art to its realized potential. Guitarist Will Kidman (Constantines, Weather Station) particularly works the essence of Jacklin’s sound, exercising patience throughout the pace of each track, while shining through when adding the passive sonic exploration and exclamation when required. Guitar part were perfectly executed in the heart wrenching, pains of love track “Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You” the last major turn before heading into the upbeat “I Was Neon”, a shiny reflection of Pre Pleasure’s gentle shift in musical tone for Jacklin. 

With one track left for the encore, a less exuberant, “End Of A Friendship” while musically satisfying, the title suggests quite the opposite of what Julia Jacklin is experiencing as an artist. The young musician is doing nothing less than winning over throngs of fans who would consider her a dear friend. A dear friend that shares their own experiences and expresses their emotions in ways that makes the shared human experience…just that. An experience. Highs and lows. We all have them. And sometimes it’s just nice to know that you are not alone in those feelings. Sharing them with an artist as talented as Jacklin is like getting that comfort with a kindred spirit.

Catch Julia Jacklin on tour now, with sold out performances scattered throughout the tour already. The singer end her U.S. leg October 8 in Phoenix and picks up again November 3 in Dublin, Ireland. Find tour dates on Jacklin’s website

All photos by Drew Doggett.

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