Toria Wooff heads to Manchester to deliver her unique blend of ethereally gothic folk.

CREEPY CRAWLY

Creepy Crawley aka Rachel Cawley, opens the evening with a short set of ethereal ballads. Her performance keeps the attention of the audience with some entrancing songs.

Every inch of the tiny basement room at YES is full by the time Toria takes the stage. Promoting her eponymous new album, she takes the stage to much cheering and hollering with her cellist Polly Virr, who lathers her songs with lilting cello fills which make the whole experience as therapeutic as it was calmly tempered and full of exquisite melodies.

TORIA WOOFF

Without hesitation Wooff begins a set comprised predominantly of songs from the album. Her dreamy hypnotic vocals suit the acoustics in the low ceiling room. Wooff’s songs are a mix of mysterious folky tunes blending Americana with English folk madrigals. The luxuriously languid Lefty’s Motel Room and Song For A being examples of this.

The vocal delivery is distinctive and unique. Most of the songs are short and incisive. There is an acoustic simplicity presented with maturity and great stage presence. Mountains is pure country which would have a place amongst the repertoire of many an American country legend’s repertoire with its winsomely, appealing melody.

FINELY TAILORED MUSICALITY

Wooff pours out her heart in the The Flood revealing her prowess at finely tailored musicality. She also reveals her local links in the romantic tragic ballad, The Waltz of Winter Hey; the title immediately recognisable to residents of Horwich. She has the confidence to deliver corny jokes and even a Scottish ghost story into her repertoire. There is an endearing fragility in her vocals too, like in the catchy That’s What Falling In Love Will Do.

Sadly the curfew seemed to prevent an encore which the ecstatic audience were begging for but the calls are in vain. Wooff offers a new energy and fresh spirit to the music scene. We hope to see Wooff making more waves in the future.

Check out all of Toria Wooff’s forthcoming tour dates, here.

Toria Wooff: Website / Facebook / X / Instagram / Bandcamp / YouTube

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