Leslie Feist at the Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall was ready to welcome back the queen of Broken Social Scene for a truly magical end of 2012’s spring equinox weekend after M. Ward played a very pleasant stripped down version of his repertoire and David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’.

Leslie Feist set the tone for the following breathtaking couple of hours with a powerful sweep through ‘Metals’, dominated by her immense vocal range and the brilliance of her new work’s architecture. A trip into ‘The Reminder’ split the beacon of London’s live venues into an enchanting four-note backing choir for ‘So Sorry’ and the upbeat ‘I Feel It All’ got its seating plan all mixed up for the first time in the evening. The flawless set then launched into a rawer version of ‘My Moon, My Man’ followed by an a capella rendition of ‘Cicadas and Gulls’ helped by the crystalline Mountain Man. An interactive ‘Sea Lion Woman’ then led the set into a beautiful end dominated by Feist’s shivering wails.

Canada’s finest voice came back on stage with M. Ward to homage Jesus and The Mary Chain before inviting the couples in the public for a slow dance on stage while she hypnotised the remaining audience with ‘Let It Die’. A third encore gave London a rendition of James Blake’s version of her own ‘Limit To Your Love’ followed by a perfect ending in communion with the public with ‘Intuition’.

Leslie Feist has this vocal gift of tickling that place inside you that gives you butterflies, making the experience of watching her live quite exhausting: one can only fall in love so many times.