The air inside Royce Hall will be thickened with an aura of mystery this Saturday night. The seats await an audience waiting for two singer-songwriters, both with black-lined eyes.
Chelsea Wolfe and Anna Calvi will take center stage at Royce Hall with free admission for UCLA students. The musical stylings of Wolfe and Calvi share dark, experimental and deeply expressive sounds that are set to penetrate the expansive Royce Hall from its farthest corners to its smallest cracks.
Fresh from a European tour to promote her recently released album “Pain is Beauty,” Chelsea Wolfe is back in her base city, Los Angeles, and anticipating her upcoming concert at UCLA. She admits that each member of the audience are going to experience her music differently.
“I want people to close their eyes and see what they see there whether something is cinematic or something healing,” Wolfe said.
A lover of unique and beautiful spaces, Wolfe is looking forward to playing in Royce Hall. Although the bluesy goth-folk tracks from “Pain is Beauty” are to appear on Wolfe’s hour-long set, her song selection for each show derives from the feeling she receives when being in the venue.
Wolfe said she is also excited to share the stage with fellow musicians. String players, such as violists and violinists, who added to the music on her album are going to play on Saturday.
“(Saturday) is going to be special,” Wolfe said.
Hailing from England and co-headlining the concert is Calvi, best known for her Barclaycard Mercury Prize and BRIT Award-nominated self-titled album released in 2011.
Calvi has also recently released her second studio album “One Breath,” which bears a similar atmospheric feel and sultry vocals to Wolfe’s music, with a more rhythmic and upbeat twist.
“(Calvi) has an amazing voice and a special sound,” Wolfe said.
The Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA has partnered with the Student Committee for the Arts to bring these two critically acclaimed musicians to UCLA.
Second-year psychology student and SCA co-marketing director Emilie No, said the SCA found interesting cultural relevance in Wolfe and Calvi.
“The combination of Chelsea Wolfe and Anna Calvi is very innovative and (they) breach another level of art,” No said. “It goes in mind with what we want to do; we want to bring art and ways to express yourself to students.”
Before the headlining concert, students can also catch a free performance by Sister Calypso on the Terrace Series stage in Royce Hall. Sister Calypso is a band created in 2006 by third-year anthropology student, Ali Kellog.
Armed with her guitar and keyboard, Sister Calypso is ready to perform ethereal music with light vocal harmonies and an ambient feel similar to the sounds of Chelsea Wolfe but less singer-songwriter, Kellog said. Tony Peluso, will be playing alongside on synthesizer and hand-percussions.
As Saturday approaches, these musicians are set to play art in the form of their music and the seats of Royce Hall are ready to be filled.
“As long as they feel something and they have a real experience,” Wolfe said. “then that’s the most important thing to me.”