Nika Roza Danilova (or Zola Jesus) stands at most five feet tall, but her sound is at least twice that. On Taiga (2014), we discovered boundlessness; at Bimboโs 365 Club in San Francisco two evenings ago, we witnessed the conquering of mountains. Much like Lorde, but with a Jesus/Madonna complex, Danilova really canโt dance. Throughout her set Wednesday night, she shimmied and jerked like Alice Glass, made eccentric Bjรถrkian hand motions, showcased quick footwork, and shrugged happily and knowingly towards the cameras at the front of the historic music hall. Dressed in a hooded, dark blue cape and backlit by a large iceberg-shaped paper lamp, Danilova delivered the entirety of Taiga from start to finish for the first time with a four-piece brass ensemble consisting of session musicians on a tuba, several trombones, and a trumpet. She commented, between โDustโ and โHungerโ, laughing as she broke the fourth wall (which, for the most part, didnโt exist that night), โWe have no idea what weโre doing right now.โ On the contrary, we think she knew exactly what she was doing. Like great leaders who never intended to lead, and artists before her with a great sense of self-awareness, Zola Jesus was a performer who, in her insecurities, found a radiant, everymanโs sort of confidence. Other great one-liners: โSan Franciscoโฆ what the fuck, man. I played my first show at Milkbar โ is that still around?” (post “Go”) โA capella, bitchesโฆโ (pre-โNail,” after a false start on a wrong tuning note; she proceeded to deliver the first half solo) โDustโ and โHunger,โ which we skirted over in our album review, were the highlights of the performance. The former came after a brass-heavy opening and โDangerous Days;โ its stripped-down accompaniment provided a break for her distinct vocals to shine over pounding bass and tuba. Her coreย percussive support (composed of sound engineers and instrumentalistsย Alex DeGroot,ย Mikey Pinaud, and Daniel Eaton) was to be noted here, switching between soft mallet toms and harsher ride cymbal. Punctuated trombone motifs on the latter utilized the live brass unit best, creating danceable moments during which Danilova shuffled about the stage spastically, a Michael Jackson on speed. A few musical stutters occurred here and there — we caught a cymbal slip on an otherwise well-executed โGo (Blank Sea)โ — but these will certainly be stamped out as the tour progresses. An hour later, when Taiga finally drew to a close on a majestic rendition of โItโs Not Over,โ the crowd was in shock. Half of them had sung every word, and the other half had witnessed a thoroughly moving performance which they would be compelled to piece together afterwards, perhaps by purchasing the physical record on their way out of the venue. But before doing so, they called Danilova back onstage for an encore. Having exhausted her new material, Danilova appeased veterans with a four-track summary of her prior discography: โClay Bodies” from The Spoils (2009), โSea Talkโ from Stridulum (2010), and โVesselโ from Conatus (2011). A telltale foghorn indicated the start of grand finale, โNightโ from Stridulum again. At one point, she exited the stage (another fourth barrier no-no), revealing just how tiny she was as the audience tried to follow her visually; even the Bimboโs staff had difficulty spotlighting her as she walked through the crowd. The dynamic during this encore, despite being a diverse range of emotions from powerfully sobering (โSea Talkโ) to fiercely energetic (โVesselโ), was nothing quite like the core of the performance. It was there, earlier, that her feelings of pride and emotional attachment came through; it was with Taiga that Zola Jesus identified. But she connected with San Francisco on a deeper level, too, leaving the city with a genuinely modified lyric — โat the end of the night, I can be with you.โ Article by Joanna Jiang Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Δ