Zola Jesus live at St. Vitus

Filed Under: Live Shows — By: Oliver Bouchard

Fortunately, when Zola Jesus announced an “intimate show at St. Vitus”, I just saw her tweet passing by and could secure tickets immediately. Last Fall, I saw her at Webster Hall with the bonus of a full horn section and three additional musicians. But, when it comes to live shows, smaller is almost always better and that was the case here as well.

St. Vitus is located on the edge of Greenpoint, almost in Queens and usually home to the hard core of Rock. However, Zola Jesus, with her arrangements of heavy drums and brass was not at all out of place. Visually it was a dark affair too: Nika and her three piece backing band were all dressed in black and the light sources were scarce. Only the autofocus light of an overeager photographer right in front threw red flashes in her face from time to time.

There was something special in the air that night: Björk made an appearance, in contrast to the rest of us, dressed all in white. And then there was Juno, the doomsday storm approaching the city. When I asked Nika if she will cancel the second show on Monday, she dismissed the idea: “I’m from Wisconsin.” And indeed, she did not only play she show, but also gave the storm a big welcome outside on Manhattan Avenue.