Around four years since she was first gaining buzz as the next big thing in pop, Sky Ferreira ought to be beyond playing brief showcases in hotel basements by now. The LA singer-slash-model-slash-actress's debut album isn't released here until March but she has more than enough good songs to play a longer set in a more appropriate venue.
A late evening began badly when a man came outside and told the back half of an epic queue, all on one free guestlist or another, that they weren’t getting in. Though a DJ managed to play house and hip-hop at such a volume that I feared for my life, when Ferreira and her four-piece band appeared they sounded muffled and meek.
Her voice proved why people have waited so long for her to succeed, a powerful instrument that had an appealing croak at its edges and handled the fine chorus of 24 Hours well. But then she abandoned I Will halfway through due to feedback issues — “Sorry. We couldn’t soundcheck,” she mumbled — and it was all over soon after that. Five and a half songs in total, even if you count her supreme single Everything is Embarrassing as worth two, was not enough to justify an encore, let alone years of hype.
