Sibling warfare, Este Haim’s seemingly endless supply of party-worthy stories and enough instrument swapping to commence a midlife crisis: the Haim sisters played their penultimate instalment of the One More Haim UK tour last night in Cardiff to an adoring audience. The show, long-awaited due to rescheduling, saw one-woman-powerhouse Georgia support, with new song Euphoric in her wake. Closing with her cover of the reawakened Kate Bush hit Running Up That Hill, Georgia’s pulsing beats reworked the song for a new electropop audience.

With a set taken mostly from Haim’s third, most recent record Women In Music Pt. III, songs like the Joni Mitchell-riddled, candid approach of Man From The Magazine allowed frontwoman Danielle Haim to communicate the early direction of writing the record. The song reflects on inappropriate journalist questions and a time she was handed a starter guitar by a condescending music shop guy: “You expect me to deal with it / ‘Til I’m perfectly numb.” Danielle, most often found on lead guitar, got behind the kit (doubling up on vocals) for quite a few songs – though all Haim sisters drummed phenomenally in their own right, it was Danielle who stood out to me the most for her ability to move seamlessly from instrument to instrument.

Plenty of phones came out, especially for the band’s synchronised I Know Alone dance routine, the band bopping back and forward in a line before returning to their instruments. 3 am provided Este the chance to take lead vocal responsibility, while The Steps proved a celebratory, encore-worthy final. Thankfully, debut album Days Are Gone wasn’t entirely absent from the setlist: My Song 5 was a worthy callback to their earlier material, a battlecry almost coming from the audience in response to the stomping and bubbling basslines of this 2013 live favourite. The Wire and Forever also made it in there, along with the youthful cry of Want You Back, from 2017’s Something To Tell You.

Tears were shed, and post-gig plans were attempted to be made through Este’s microphone (who knows if they manifested) – it’s inconceivable Haim had never played Cardiff in their nearly 10-year life span until last night, but it was worth the wait regardless.  

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wed 20 July

words EMMA WAY photos KEVIN PICK