Laura Marling Brings Electrified Folk to Brooklyn

After several performances at SXSW, Laura Marling headed up north and played a sold-out show at Brooklyn's Warsaw last night (March 23).

Dressed in all black except her pearly white trainers, the British folk artist took her place in front of the mic and showed everyone the high energy that she delivers on her new record, Short Movie. Exploring solitude and finding her own identity in Los Angeles, she gave fans a different side of herself last night. And with the full band, there was a revived spirit and energy in the way she played. Her aggressive-yet-precise guitar play was hypnotic and her lyrics were filled with vigor. Marling proved that she is no longer just the demure and shy artist but someone who's making her presence known -- and is the only one in control.

"All right, I'm going to take control of this [show] now," she told the crowd after fans started blurting out their song requests.

However, this doesn't mean that she lost the emotional and soft vulnerability that we all initially fell for in her music. When she fumbled on a couple of songs, including "Love Be Brave," which she just skipped over after playing a few bars, she giggled it off and showed us that she is still human -- even though Laura Marling disciples see nothing but utter perfection in the artist.

Like all her shows, she went through the set without an encore, which she explained to anyone who was expecting one. "I don't do encores," she said. "I just don't think we should do them."

She also added, "But these last two are from the new record, and it's fun to play them so you [all] should get loose."

Before Marling performed, Villagers warmed up the stage with his intuitive and heartwarming folk sounds. Playing songs from his upcoming third album, Darling Arithmatic, set to release on April 14 via Domino Records, frontman Conor O'Brien went for a more minimalist set up. Instead of the full band, he was on his acoustic guitar and invited a harpist to accompany him onstage. Not only did the Dublin singer-songwriter woo the audience with tracks like "So Naive," "Courage" and "Hot Scary Summer," but he also won over everyone with his humor.

"My favorite part of coming to America is filling out the visa application," he told the crowd while tuning his guitar. "It's the O-1, which is alien with extraordinary ability. Thank you America for telling me what I already know."

Laura Marling will be embarking on her U.K. tour in April while Villagers will be playing one more Brooklyn show on March 25 at Union Pool. He will also be touring Europe in April to promote the new album.

Check out our photos -- and get Marling's setlist -- below:

Laura Marling -- Brooklyn's Warsaw

Villagers -- Brooklyn's Warsaw

Laura Marling -- Setlist, March 23, 2015
"False Hope"
"I Feel Your Love"
"Devil's Spoke"
"The Muse"
"Strange"
"Master Hunter"
"Walk Alone"
"David"
"What He Wrote"
"Take the Night Off"
"I Was an Eagle"
"You Know"
"Breathe"
"Love Be Brave"
"I Speak Because I Can"
"Rambling Man"
"Gurdjieff's Daughter"
"Short Movie"