Live

missdavinalee, The Invasion Of...

Alisha Ahmed 18/08/2010

The way the lights turn to red by reflecting on the heavy velvet curtains of the Monarch is quickly intoxicating and every time I go there I feel like I am in this secret place for the industry where pearls for the music scene to come will be forged. Although I must confess, I will never get used to the idea of a set beginning at 8pm, which more often than not can be just considered late afternoon, and the late light that's still around in August does not help. But once I manage to get to Camden and heavily breathe out my name on the list, not only am I still in time to see the set by missdavinalee, but I am tipped at the entrance with knowledge that, in spite of the main act of the night being Gary Powell's (of The Libertines fame) new act The Invasion Of..., most people still seem to be there exactly to see Miss Lee play. And once I am in, I am telling you, I don't think I have ever seen the Monarch packed at  such an early hour.

When Davina takes the stage, she is clearly in the position to teach Marina how to lose her pretentiousness and Florence how to be talented. She's funny, witty, she's humble enough to grace the whole band with her name (a band, not just backing musicians, with a synths player who's gotta be the lovechild between a Korg and Miss Moneypenny), she has a flirtatious voice paired with a rock chick attitude that manage to set her apart from any other "female act", were the need there, to prove that addressing a gender of musicians with a consequential genre name is way to simplistic and quite intolerable. 

For the energy of her set, I am loving her to bits, and even if I stick around afterwards, I completely see why, despite not being billed as the main act, word was out for people to come around Camden early to see her set over the ones who came afterwards. For a minute I am actually worried for whoever will have to take the stage after her, for I feel like I can say everyone at the Monarch felt like me. Never had I a more well impressed +1 with me and when I bump into Davina herself at the ladies, I need to tell her and share a bit of a laugh and leave her with a hug, cause she made my night, and now I just really wanna have such fun again.