I am not a Throwing Muses ’superfan’. I don’t know all the words to the old songs. But I don’t think that takes anything away from Kristin Hersh’s new art/performance piece. In the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, Hersh read from her autobiography and accompanied herself on the guitar.
The subject matter is not light. Kristin talks about about being in a car crash, mental illness, being consumed by songwriting. But anyone who has seen her perform solo before will know that she can be extremely funny. After the audience loosened up a tad, we were all laughing. In between extracts, the lights went down, leaving Kristin in silhouette, and she would sing in earnest. Her voice has this tendency to fill a person up with feeling. I think all of us felt close to tears at some point.
So it was with trepidation that we went backstage (thanks to the wonderful Laura). I tried to open a bottle of wine, but was actually so nervous that I needed to be rescued. We ate Kristin Hersh’s chocolates. We chatted with her husband, mostly quite successfully. Then we talked to Kristin. We were not smooth. Here’s a photo of me and Laura posing outside afterwards, with our backstage passes.