Julia Jacklin - In Residency at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Article written and photos by Natalie Ryan
On April 2nd, Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin played the third in a series of four sold-out residency shows at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. The Masonic Lodge is an intimate venue at the famous star-studded historic cemetery with wonderful acoustics. Before Jacklin took the stage, fellow Aussie Georgia Maq graced the audience with her beautiful voice. Maq was previously lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of former Australian band Camp Cope, who were trailblazers in sexual assault awareness and prevention at concerts and festivals. Maq’s voice soared through the room and I’m sure that new fans were made by the way the small room filled up quickly.
Find Georgia Maq at her individual links below:
Once the crowd was nearly spilling out the doors, Julia Jacklin walked from the entrance and up onto the stage, grabbed her guitar, said hello, and began to sing her first song of the night. She played with no backing tracks and no band, her powerful yet gentle voice enough to silence the room. She started off with the namesake of her 2016 debut album “Don’t Let the Kids Win”, before going into a cover of “Shivers” by The Boys Next Door, which she released a studio version of last year. I don’t always like covers, but I would definitely recommend her version, it’s full of emotion while maintaining the integrity of the original. Later, during “Be Careful With Yourself”, she forgot the lyrics to a verse and the audience immediately chimed in, everyone laughing with each other. She took a lot of time in between songs to chat with us and tell stories of her experiences in the music industry, including one song that had been difficult to play in the past.
A fan reached out to her prior to the show asking if she would play “Motherland” from her debut album. She promised she would, but first, she told a humorous but painful story of how she used to get terrible stage fright early in her career and even had a panic attack once while she was playing that song at a show. It was hard for her to play it every time after that out of fear it would happen again. She admitted that she still prefers more intimate shows and smaller crowds (like this one) but she no longer has that gripping fear anymore. Finishing the song, she pumped her fists in a “yes!” gesture and the audience excitedly cheered and applauded her.
For her last song, she used a karaoke video of “Lydia Wears a Cross”, from her most recent album “PRE PLEASURE”, as a backing track, encouraging everyone to sing along with her. After the merch line was practically out the door, her stellar performance presumably affirmed that fans needed a special poster or shirt to commemorate the night. I was not very familiar with Jacklin before attending the show, but I am very glad I went. She is the kind of artist who sounds so good live, that you almost don’t want to sing along, even if you know all the words. If you’re a fan of Björk, Fiona Apple, boygenius, or anyone with a killer voice, you will love Julia Jacklin.
