Bahamas @ St. Pancras Old Church

We’ve been spending some time across the pond in London these past few weeks and had a chance to support some of our hometown talent. Toronto-born Bahamas, (Afie Jurvanen) made his UK concert debut with not one, but three sold out shows in London this week. The latter two were his own headlining sets at the historic St. Pancras Old Church in Camden, one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England. It was clear Jurvanen was elated to be there, mentioning to the crowd, “we have nothing like this where I’m from.”

As he serenaded the chapel with a 60-minute acoustic set (with the help of two angelic back-up singers), the audience watched in silence and a pin drop could be heard in the room as they sipped on their cups filled with bagged wine. The set opened with “Lost in the Light” and continued with a mix of new songs off Barchords including “Ok Alright I’m Alive” and some older hits off Pink Strat, including “Already Yours”, and “Southern Drawl”. Although it can be argued the acoustic arrangement was missing the power of a drum beat behind it, it allowed his guitar mastery to be showcased with each song. Jurvanen himself even seemed to notice it at times, joking with the crowd to “picture a drum beat” and even improvising by making drumming sounds with his lips in between guitar riffs.

It was a special experience to see this rising star in such an such an intimate setting where he was able to display his full range of musical craft, including impressive guitar picking and vocal ability. We’re looking forward to the next one, wherever it may be.