Throughout her set, the music stand is repositioned as Faithfull vacillates between sitting in a chair straight out of a Parisian drawing room and standing unsteadily. But while physically diminished, she remains a powerful performer. As much raconteur as singer, Faithfull’s conversation is as uncompromising as her music. She talks about the ethnic cleansing in Sweden that inspired the song Vagabond Ways, her friendship with Allen Ginsberg, and seeing Rudolf Nureyev on his last tour. “He never should have done it. But he couldn’t stop. I said to myself: ‘You better watch that. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.’ Not yet. But it’s coming.”
Yet, the longer Faithfull plays, the better she gets. The bitterness of Broken English remains brutal; the horribly prescient Sister Morphine still burns. Sitting with a cup of tea, surrounded by her protective band, Faithfull sings As Tears Go By and It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue with warmth and affection, before breaking into a hacking cough.
“God, I’d kill for a cigarette,” she says. During Crazy Love, Faithfull’s voice hits notes of real purity, and watching McVey wrench stadium-sized notes from his guitar, she looks like an innocent little girl. But she can’t go on. “I’ve had it ladies and gentlemen,” she says, cutting two songs from the set list. “I’m too tired. I wish I was Keith Richards, but I’m not. Actually, I’m quite glad I’m not.”
Posted from: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/26/marianne-faithfull-review-ronnie-scotts
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