Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ
Last night, FKA Twigs — aka The Next Big Thing out of England, and GF of Twilight star Robert Pattinson — arrived on stage for her sold out performance at Union Transfer to strains of “Preface,” the lead-off tracking from her debut, LP1. Slowly emerging from the sultry darkness of the stage, Twigs was draped in a silky white translucent robe and a matching flowing skirt, with a black caged bodysuit underneath and painfully high needle-thin stiletto pumps. Her hair, usually pulled back in her trademark space-bun style, was free flowing and used as an accessory all the same. There was a sense of beautiful, impending doom, but Twigs held her composure frighteningly well. The ghostly overlapping echoes of her voice instantly created an atmosphere that fell somewhere between a cold gothic chapel and a volcanic human sacrifice ritual.
Her 13-song set drew primarily from 2014’s LP1, but also featured pieces from EP1 and EP2, all of which contain similar sounds—electronic beats layered with subtle ambient bleeps and bloops that compliment her smooth, airy vocals. Every Twigs songs has a specific kind of momentum, starting off mysteriously reserved and suspenseful, then building dramatically in volume and scope. All of this was matched with Twigs’ contortionist-style choreography, which was like something out of a burlesque show on Mars. The gradual pacing and sporadic twists and turns of her music went hand-in-hand with her dancing. As Twigs walked with slow and steady strides across the stage, she would suddenly drop into a backbend, or dip forward and toss her hair. Essentially, she was doing a seductive hokey pokey. After just an hour of luring in and flirting with the crowd, Twigs closed with “How’s That.” While reaching out to thank and hug her loving fans, she asked politely in her adorable British accent if it was OK for her to call them Philly. As far as I could tell, there were no objections. — MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ