 | | Joan As Police Woman |
Starting off spot-lit and solo on piano against a wall of senseless chatter from those at the back with Trying To Be Alone, the full line-up joined her for much of recent debut album Real Life and others, including a heartily welcomed stab at Condoleeza Rice on one. Belying the almost obscure eighties indie band moniker and irritating tipped-for-a-tuppence by Elton John, her sultry, sumptuous silken purse overflows with subtle treasures harking back to Nina Simone, Ray Charles and onto Chrissie Hynde all swept along on wisps of flickering candle-light in cold New York apartments where John Cale records resound within the very walls.  | | Joan As Police Woman |
Switching to guitar and centre-stage for past single and country-soul scorched Eternal Flame and current release Christobel proved highlights alongside the jazz-soul-funk of I Defy and Save Me, though from a night amongst the firmament no star shines brighter than the album’s title-track. Politely requesting quiet from the endless chat from the back – which makes you wonder why they bother to pay the tenner door tax - Wasser takes the solo spot on piano once more for a magical, breathtaking rendition even more intimate and beautiful than the album version. Fantastical, enchanting astral-soul that heeds it’s own boatman’s call. Not for nothing does she encore with the Starman himself, with an unrehearsed version of David Bowie’s Sweet Thing. | 
