Marjana Semkina / Gleb Kolyadin / iamathemorning – St. Matthias Church, London; November 1st, 2024

When Marjana Semkina announced an iamthemorning show in London on her Patreon and I realized I could actually make it there, I got very excited. I#ve been her Patron for some time now, but I rarely manage to fit any gigs into my schedule. This was a very special one too, not only taking place at a church, but also featuring her and Gleb’s solo material. Needless to say it was everything I had hoped for any more. What a great night.

Having traveled to London the previous day, I was already there when MArjana invited the Patrons to come and join them for soundcheck. Hell yes, that sounded awesome. It was nice weather on show day so I decided to walk to the church and got there earlier than I expected. Looking around for the entrance, I spotted Marjana and band and they invited me in. There was one other fan, who had already gotten there before me and we sat together at the back of the church chatting. Linda was already there and after talking briefly, she got us the merch we had ordered. Perfect.

Just before the other Patrons arrived, we moved up to the front, securing the best spots in the house. From there on in it was soundcheck with quite a few technical difficulties, so they barely made it through before the doors were supposed to open. Once the tech worked, everything sounded great. Church acoustics for the win.

The doors opened, people found seats, grabbed drinks and settled down. I spent the time chatting with the people around me and getting more excited by the minute. This was going to be so good.

When Marjana’s band walked on stage and started playing, everyone instantly shut up and listened. The mics, the guitar stand, the drums and the piano were adorned with lights and artificial flowers, while electric candles burned in the middle row. It created a great atmosphere and together with the stage lighting, it looked beautiful. Marjana stepped up to the mic and greeted us. We cheered and she launched into ‘We are the Ocean’. Her voice, the guitar, the drums – it all sounded amazing. I was smiling already – happiness is getting to hear great music live.

She told us how special it was to be there and play with her new band. The keyboard introduced ‘Lost but at Peace’ and when Marjana started singing it sent shivers down my spine – so good. 🙂 She spoke about Jim Grey, who had cooperated with her on the next song, but unfortunately was very far away and could not be there that night. ‘Anything but sleep’ was great without him too. 🙂

‘Pygmalion’ followed and gradually we were moving from softer songs to the ones that felt more edgy, i.e. they made me feel a little more unsettled, less calm than I had at the beginning. I embraced the journey the music was taking me on. She spoke about having written this album for three years with a lot of subjects like death, murder and redemption. Everyone laughed, we all know how she loved writing about dark subjects. “Heres’s a happy song,” she said and played ‘The Storm’. It was my favorite so far and indeed made me feel lighter again. <3

“The majority of the setlist today is the new stuff, but there’s a little of the old one too,” Marjana said, but not just yet, because ‘This Silence, This Dreaming’ was next. “Also about death,” she noted. It sounded very much like a dream though, with gorgeous keys and guitar melodies, leading to my thoughts drifting. I love being caught up in music like that. Marjana said that she could not see us very well in the candle light and announced some of the old stuff, only to realized that the next song was on the new album as well. 😀 ‘Gone’ was wonderful.

I loved hearing Marjana sing and watching her move across stage. She tld us that they were really nervous, because they were doing a lot of things for the first time, but now it was OK, because we were the nicest audience. She also reminded us that the show was being filmed, so if she was telling joke we should act as if it was funny. 😉 With ‘Disillusioned’ we got to some older songs after all and got to hear her play guitar too. There was a small hick-up with the sound, but it got fixed soon sounded all the better.

She told us about being really stressed lately, but now that they were at this gorgeous venue, it was not so terrible any more. She ended her set with ‘Turn back time’ – the keys sounded like bells and the drums made it hard to sit still. the perfect song to dance across the stage to. 🙂

Setlist

We Are the Ocean
Lost but at Peace
Anything But Sleep
Pygmalion
The Storm
This Silence, This Dreaming
Gone
Disillusioned
Turn Back Time

After a short break Gleb sat down at the grand piano and started playing. I am not super familiar with his music, but it immediately drew me in with beautiful melodies, flowing like water. It mostly wasn’t quiet or calm, but felt like a very meditative experience, where I got lost in the music. He did not have a mic, so in-between songs he got up to talk to us, mentioning how great it was to be there and telling us that he blended two of his compositions together before he continued. Gleb is an excellent pianist and like Marjana did with her singing, he took me on a journey with him. I thoroughly enjoyed. <3

Another break with time to stretch a bit, before sitting down again on the rather hard benches. As soon as the band started playing I forgot everything about that though. ‘Scotland’ was first, with Gleb’s piano and Marjana’s voice leading us before the drums set in. Once again I was focussed on the stage, watching Marjana move and listening with all of my being.

Strangely, I still managed to take pictures, focussed on capturing moments, while taking in the beautiful music at the same time. ‘Too many years’ was so wonderfully dramatic. It continued straight into ‘To Human Misery’ –  I loved it. Marjana told us they had brought a wide range of songs about death and dying and pain and suffering. “but it’s not the only thing we’re writing about. For example the next one is about Electric shock therapy”. That was ‘Chalk and Coal’ of course, including great drums and Marjana singing/Screaming her heart out “No, not again”.

Beautiful piano lines took us into ‘Sleeping Pills’, followed by the amazing ‘Libretto Horror’, which really rocked the house. I was moving along the whole time.Then ‘Os Lunatum’ had me feeling tempted to close my eyes and just drift with the music. This show was a real treat. The singing, the music, the band – everything was top notch. Whenever I looked around, everyone seemed just as happy to be there as I was.

Marjana mentioned that she wasn’t talking much between songs, which was unusual for them. She asked who had been to one of their gigs before and managed to see a few familiar faces even though it was a bit dark to see much at all. she thanked us for coming and was grateful we chose to spent our time with them because “life is short and we’re all gonna die”. I would not have wanted to be anywhere else at that moment and the cheering from everyone else told me they felt the same way. They continued with ‘Sleeping Beauty’, then ‘Blue Sea’ and finally ‘Freak Show’ –  it was awesome.

She spoke about originally being from Russia and having to leave because of the terrible government. Then she mentioned that in Saint Petersburg they played museums and palaces, but she had always dreamed about playing at a church. Now they were finally there and she thanked everyone who had helped making this possible. Then she introduced the band. 🙂 After this happy talk they wanted to play a happy song- “do you know which one?”-. I didn’t, but everyone else knew it was 5/4. We clapped in rhythm as MArjana walked up and down the aisle and danced across the stage. The song was a lot of fun and our clapping was on point.

At the end, Marjana talked about the terrible state of the music industry and how important it is to get support from fans. She thanked us again and they ended the set with ‘K.O.S.’. What a fantastic song! We clapped and cheered until they came back and gave us ‘Ghost of a Story’ as an encore. It was the perfect song to end the show with. Sure, we would have all wanted more, but they did have to clear out the church soon, so this was it. What a fantastic evening.

I said hello to Marjana and Gleb, thanking them for the great show. Then I said goodbye to Linda and left, catching the bus home. I had to leave early the next morning, but I had  no regrets. This was a concert I would not have wanted to miss.

Setlist

Scotland
Too Many Years
To Human Misery
Chalk and Coal
Sleeping Pills
Libretto Horror
Os Lunatum
Sleeping Beauty
Blue Sea
Freak Show
5/4
K.O.S.

Encore:
Ghost of a Story