With all eyes scanning Shoreditch Town Hall's stunning ornate ceilings and marble-clad walls ahead of tonight's headline act, this Grade II-listed stage is a fitting space for a grade-A performance.
Step forward Ibeyi: the vehicle for French-Cuban twins Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz to showcase their genre-spanning sound and symbiotic, mind-expanding harmonies.
Taking to the stage in a streetwear campaign-worthy get-up of red jumpsuits and grills, the pair were touring their newly released second album, Ash. The grandiose setting was matched with theatre-level stage direction that saw shifting shutters reveal album artwork throughout the hour-long set.
Performing in English, Spanish and Nigerian dialect Yoruba – in which ibeyi translates as the divine spirit shared between twins – added further eclecticism across a set that took in pared-back soul, directional ballads jazz and hip-hop (not to mention a cute lullaby written for their five-year-old nephew).
New material oscillated between vibrantly upbeat (Away Away and rousing call-to-arms Deathless, their collaboration with Kamasi Washington) and beautifully downtempo (Waves). No Man is Big Enough For My Arms, penned in response to Trump's lurid sex-tape revelations and featuring a loop of Michelle Obama's rousing 2016 speech, was delivered in piercing unison and – post Weinstein – seemed especially poignant. Elsewhere, the pair's resplendent return to old material saw the likes of River and Mama Says please long-standing fans.
Both sisters displayed strength and vulnerability at alternate times, occasionally meeting front of stage to rabble-rousing effect. Lisa-Kainde's keys dovetailed with Naomi's percussive loops (using the cajón and batá drums and mic'd up body parts) throughout; the pair's complementary talents setting the backdrop for their perfectly attuned vocals to raise the roof of this age-old venue.
