The hauntingly beautiful and surreal world of filmmaker David Lynch came to life at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall thanks to the genius of show director David Coulter. 

It was executed to perfection, leaving the audience mesmerised in an hour-and-a-half-long spectacle consisting of songs from some of Lynch’s most famous works such as Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet.  

From the very beginning, there was a sense that the show would have disturbing tones as the lights dimmed, the audience hearing a log being sawed with precision, yet increasing speed and frenzy which further enhanced the show being nothing short of a manic ride through the mind of one of the most creative people to ever grace the film industry.

There were sharp transitions between the songs performed, gentle beauty devolving into nightmarish chaos. 1950s style lullabies and whimsical, calm pop music was replaced by discordant industrial sounds produced by instruments such as sheets of metal and electric guitars, similar to Nine Inch Nails (a band which Lynch worked with multiple times in his career). One of the prime examples of this change was the performance of ‘Blue Velvet’ in which the lead singer on stage, Sophia Brous sings with elegance, only to be interrupted multiple times by vicious shredding of an electric guitar from the wonderful Kirin J.Callinan. 

Another standout performance was when Brous performed a haunting rendition of ‘Sycamore Trees’, met by raucous applause from the crowd. The ensemble was a major highlight. Throughout the show they played a vast array of instruments befitting of the venue’s incredible acoustics, the vocals from the lead singers synchronously combining with the instruments to create a beautiful sound and an atmosphere that left the audience enraptured.

Lead harp player Seraphina Seer mastered a tune that felt akin to music from the Aphex Twin album ‘Select Ambient Works’. The singers were dressed in outfits similar to characters from Lynch’s filmography with a fever dream feel to the show which only served to make it unforgettable. The song ‘ In Heaven, Everything Is Fine’ from the unsettling 1977 film Eraserhead (a song which is famously played at the start of every Pixies concert) was the crowd favourite of the night and it was reworked with a distortion effect to make it even more eerie than usual. 

French singer Jehnny Beth should also be praised for her incredible vocal range showcased by an ability to go from feral screams in the song ‘She’s Gone Away’ ( like many modern female rock singers such as Poppy) to calm, mystical singing (reminiscent of Portishead’s lead singer Beth Gibbons) during her songs ‘Up In Flames’ and ‘Song To The Siren’.  The show is a perfect mixture of ethereal and macabre styles, transitioning between the two perfectly in a familiar yet unpredictable evening and it has Lynch’s signature style - surreal and disturbing, yet captivating and enchanting - written all over it, which made for a really good show and an excellent night out.

Seb Gorlov 

@stxrlightlxbrdorphotography 

Image: Pete Woodhead

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