From achingly sincere innvocation to exciting electronica – Zaho de Sagazan live was enchanting at Gorilla on 27 February.
Firstly I’m struck by her range – we start off with Sagazan sat at a piano, simply lit in white and she plays a beautiful and slow ballad to start us off.
Its not long before the dramatics start however, the song ends and she stands – picking up a prop phone, dialling.
No answer.
She fixes a kubrick stare at the opposite wall, an electronic beat starts up and the show truly starts.
Sagazan has gone from strength to strength in the past few years, picking up acclaim in her native France. Its been two years since the release of her firs album: La Symphonie des éclairs (The Symphony of Lightning).
Last year she won awards for best original song, best album, best stage revelation and best female revelation at the French awards Les victoires de la Musique. She’s perhaps most internationally known for her cover of Sous le ciel de Paris by Édith Piaf at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olymics in Paris.
She fills Gorilla, a welcoming venue in a viaduct arch. Its unassuming and upmarket bar gives way to a cavernous music venue whose black and red industrial aesthetic fits perfectly with the minimalist black and white that Sagazan inhabits.
Sagazan is supported by Charlie Motto, a French pop-artist who has the lyrical style, look and attitude of the love child of Kate Bush and Sabrina Carpenter, and warms us up after queuing in the cold Manchester night.
But its Sagazan who really gets the party started.
“This song is about dying,” she says, smiling. “Because I am a very friendly girl.”
She curtsies deep.
The next few songs follow in a blur of beautiful alto vocals and she stands draped in white, lit from behind blue and orange – it looks almost biblical.
What makes her stand out is the emotion that she sings with. As the beginning notes of the title track to her 2023 album play, she starts to cry – “I am very sensitive,” she says. The song has a light electronic beat behind it but it’s made by her voice – it’s like she scarcely draws a breath. It’s clearly the crowd favourite and everyone sings along.
And then it takes a turn. “We are not at a Louis Vitton show, we are at a f****** gig,” She takes off her shirt, revealing a black and white jumpsuit hidden underneath, “So let’s get smelly!”
Her band are incredibly skilled, Remmy, Tom and Simon as Sagazan introduces them, and they steal the show for the next twenty minutes as the genre shifts into electronica. Not what I was expecting having listened to her album, but it is welcome. She works the crowd effortlessly, demonstrating for us all the level of dance like you’ve been possessed by the music she’s expecting.
Sagazan has one last show on her UK tour – The Lantern in Bristol tonight February 28.
Main image credit: Zoe Joubert
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