Violet Grohl at Barfly – show review

Words by Cassie Barnard

On Tuesday night, Violet Grohl played her first of two shows at the newly reopened Barfly, Camden. Having released her debut album, Be Sweet To Me, in May, Grohl has spent the summer bringing her songs to bigger stages, so seeing her in a room this small felt like a good chance to see how the songs work up close.

Photos by Cassie Barnard

Grohl’s calm and steady stage presence may be the result of playing venues and festivals 100 times the size of Barfly’s 200-capacity venue, but the intimacy of the venue and the more personal nature of some of her songs make Grohl’s performance feel more personal, even if she doesn’t always seem to fully lean into it. Whilst she rarely looks nervous, there is also a slight distance to her performance that can make some of the songs feel a little flat at times. There are moments where you want a bit more energy or emotion from her, particularly when the songs themselves seem to call for it.

Her set included ‘THUM’ and ‘Cool Buzz’, two of the more recognisable tracks from her debut album, which went down well with a crowd that seemed to already know the words. Her performance of ‘Bug in the Cake’, my personal favourite, was met with a noticeably bigger reaction from the room and was probably one of the highlights of the set.

At the end of the day, Grohl’s first set at the Barfly will probably be remembered as a promising, if slightly uneven, introduction to a venue that has seen plenty of young artists at the beginning of their careers. Whether she will adorn the walls of the renowned grassroots venue amongst past performers such as Ed Sheeran, Muse and Amy Winehouse remains to be seen. For now, there is enough here to suggest she could.

Photos by Cassie Barnard