After the Rain with Gavin Bryars Ensemble and Jess Walker: songs of Waits, Cohen and Weill
Memory Unwrapped
| Leonard Cohen | A Singer Must Die |
|---|---|
| Leonard Cohen | Song of Bernadette |
| Leonard Cohen | Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye |
| Kurt Weill | Lost in the Stars |
| Tom Waits | Georgia Lee |
| Tom Waits | A Little Rain |
| Tom Waits | Lullaby |
| Tom Waits | The Briar and the Rose |
| Tom Waits | Johnsburg, Illinois |
| Neil Young | Only Love Can Break Your Heart |
| Gavin Bryars | Bass, Piano |
|---|---|
| Jess Walker | Voice |
| James Woodrow | Acoustic and Electric Guitar |
| Audrey Riley | Cello |
| Yuri Bryars | Bass, Piano |
| Morgan Goff | Viola |
| Roger Heaton | Multi-wind |
Recipient of the 2024 Ivor Novello Innovation award, Gavin Bryars is one of the most influential composers of our age. For After the Rain he reunites with singer Jess Walker and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble for his hypnotic arrangements of iconic songs by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Kurt Weill.
Gavin Bryars, recipient of the 2024 Ivors Innovation Award, is one of the most influential composers of our age. For After the Rain he reunites with the remarkable singer Jess Walker to build on their Tom Waits collaboration, Mercy and Grand, which Tom Waits himself referred to as giving his songs ‘an elegant night on the town.’ This new programme with the Gavin Bryars Ensemble includes his hypnotic arrangements of iconic numbers by Waits, Leonard Cohen, Kurt Weill and Neil Young. Scored for strings, sax, electric guitar, piano and voice, the arrangements include the world premiere of Neil Young’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart.
Duration and interval TBC.
Concessions & Under 30s tickets
Kings Place Concessions Tickets
We want to ensure that people who may be struggling financially to purchase a ticket can still enjoy visiting Kings Place. A limited number of tickets are allocated for certain events (if the ticket type does not show in the booking pathway, it means they are not available for this event or have all been sold). Concessions tickets are accessible for people on the following criteria (for more information visit our FAQs)
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Disability Benefit
- Income Support or Job Seekers allowance
- Students
£10 ‘Under 30s’ tickets
A limited number of £10 tickets for attendees aged under 30 are available for certain shows. To purchase an ‘Under 30s’ ticket, please choose the ‘Under 30s’ price type when selecting your ticket(s). If the option does not appear, this means all ‘Under 30s’ tickets have sold out or are not available for this performance. Please note that proof of age may be requested at the venue. The £10 offer does not apply to premium price categories.
Plan your visit
Getting here
Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe.
Our address is:
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.
The Venue
Our performance spaces are situated on the lower ground floor. Hall One, Hall Two and St Pancras are located in level -2, reached by stairs, escalator and lift from the ground floor entrance level.
Event Times
Door times indicate auditorium entrance times only. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the Kings Place seating areas, gallery-level art, canal-side terrace, café, restaurant and bar throughout the day and evening.
- Our events begin promptly at the advertised start time. Typically, there is no support unless otherwise stated.
- We recommend arriving in good time before the performance. The Hall doors will open 30 minutes before the performance to allow time to take your seats, or to choose a space for standing shows.
- Latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance where possible
Access
We aim to make your visit to Kings Place as comfortable as possible. For more information about the accessibility of Kings Place, including details about our Access Scheme, please visit this page.
If you would like to discuss your access requirements with a member of our team, please get in touch with the Box Office team at info@kingsplace.co.uk.
Food & Drink
Rotunda Bar & Restaurant
Rotunda, situated on the ground floor of Kings Place, offers a unique dining and drinking experience alongside Regent’s Canal. The concert bar in the venue foyer will also be open for select events.
Green & Fortune Café
Recently re-furbished and now open with a new look, the Green & Fortune Café is open for selected concerts. Serving hot and cold food and drinks, including sandwiches, salads, soup, stew and a pie of the day, alongside a choice of cakes made by the on-site bakery team. See here for selected concert dates and standard opening hours.
About Gavin Bryars
One of the most important British post-minimalist composers, Gavin Bryars mixes classical, jazz, and modern influences in his intellectually engaging, yet emotionally moving, music. He is best known for his seminal works The Sinking of the Titanic and Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, which achieved cult status on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records. He has since composed widely for dance, working with choreographers such as Merce Cunningham and Carolyn Carson, written several operas and created an extensive body of vocal compositions, working in particular with early music performers on vocal laude and madrigals.
About Jessica Walker
A genre-defying creator and singer, Jessica has made and performed work for Opera North, Brighton Festival, The Royal Exchange Theatre and Lichfield Festival. Her solo show, La Solitude, premiered at the Jermyn Street Theatre in 2025, with an album due for release on Resonus Classics. Her new song cycle, Scene Unseen, with composer Joseph Atkins, was released as a film by ETO at Home and the Royal and Derngate theatre. Recent concerts include Modern Nature at the Barbican, and recitals at Ludlow, Deal, Nevill Holt and Lichfield Festivals. Her residencies at the Brits Off Broadway Festival have been New York Times critics’ pick three times.
Reviews
Praise for Bryars and Walker’s previous collaboration, Mercy and Grand:
‘Gripping and moving, with tremendous clout’ ★★★★ The Guardian
‘This unusual melange works a treat’ ★★★★ The Independent
‘Incongruously but superbly sung by the pure-voiced English mezzo Jess Walker’ ★★★★ The Times
Tom Waits himself wrote:
“I’m honoured to have an artist of Gavin Bryars’ stature dress these songs up and take them out for an elegant night on the town”.