Jessica Pratt at the Biltmore Cabaret

Review and Photos – Jessica Pratt at the Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, June 25 2024

The usually small and intimate setting of the Biltmore was packed, wall-to-wall, with fans waiting for Jessica Pratt, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, to come on stage. When she did, some technical difficulties with her mic caused a noticeable delay to the show, but no one complained or moved, even if the venue’s temperature was steadily increasing.

After the issues were resolved, Pratt sat down on a chair with her acoustic guitar accompanied by the rest of her band. As red lights illuminated the stage, the cheering crowd quieted down to hear every note Jessica sang, with her voice emanating a soft, emotional tone that was reminiscent of the classic 70s folk singers who swept the nation those decades ago.

Jessica Pratt’s musical style has been described as freak folk, but in an interview with Impose Magazine, she responded “I think anybody has an opposition to being pigeonholed into semi-trendy music genres. I definitely love a lot of those artists. There have been comparisons to people like Joan Baez [who] plays very straight-forward folk music, almost academic folk music. I’ve written so much new material that I’m almost ready for a next record. I guess it’s just my fear of sounding one-dimensional, or being classified as strictly a folk artist.”

Her self-titled debut album was released in 2012 via Birth Records and Pratt has just released her fourth album, Here in the Pitch, earlier this year, with each album evolving her sound. Emotional ballads like “World on a String”, “This Time Around” and “The Last Year” had the audience hanging on every muted note and strum of the guitar. Her backing band supported her well, with keyboards, bass and an occasional percussion and saxophone, though Pratt’s voice was the star of the show.

After each thunderous applause, a quiet “thank you” from Pratt acknowledged the audience before she moved on to the next track. She said how much she appreciated everyone sticking through the technical difficulties and the heat and elected to skip the whole “leave the stage and come back” and opted to just play more songs for the eager fans enjoying every minute of the show.

Pratt closed out the show with some of her classics like “Back Baby” and “On Your Own Love Again”. The crowd gave one final booming applause before being ushered out into the fresh air, with the incredible songwriting and voice of Jessica Pratt in their heads as they found their way home on a Tuesday night.