Review of KT Tunstall at The Olympia Theatre on 7th February 2011
Review by Ros Madigan
Photos by Abraham Tarrush
KT Tunstall was back to grace our shores to kick-start her tour for her new album ‘Tiger Soul’. Her show on this occasion saw her end her short stint in Ireland after playing Galway and the INEC in Killarney. Her new album has been met with mixed opinions in the media and has yet to spark into life with little to no airplay on radio. I was taking this gig as a tester to see if she could sell the album to me.
We had taken our seats, suitably refreshed and awaiting the support act only to be surprised when, what looked like a roadie started to take stage to perform. He came out alone and started to rap. He jumped around the stage to heavy processed beats for a few moments only to stop and tell us “none of my songs are like that”. He then started singing a song alone with nothing but his guitar aiding his tender soft voice. A certain sound of Fleet Foxes comes bellowing out from his voice. It then became clear that this was ‘The Pictish Trail’. I became more and more confused as his set went on as he changed from easy listening slow melodic songs to rather tedious rap/trance/dance and comedy jingles. He switched back and forth forcing you to believe he doesn’t know what he is. His last song ‘Blipper Home Disco’ had the whole crowd wondering why he doesn’t just be serious and stick to what he is good at. Nonetheless, everyone was more than glad to see the back of him and only politely clapped him off knowing the quicker he made his exit, the quicker KT would arrive.
9 o’clock, on the button, she arrives on stage to rapturous applause. I cant help but notice how good she looks, she almost glows on stage. She begins by slapping her Akai loop pedal into action, like only she knows how. KT has single-handedly been the flagship artist to use such equipment and has mastered it since day one. The first song is ‘Come on, Get In” and gets everyone in the mood as she takes over the stage. First thing to strike me about the stage show is that I am more than happy at her new band set up. She has lost her two backing singers who merely got in the way in the past and returned to the basics.
The tracks off the new album seem to going down very well with the Dublin crowd and KT is visibly growing in energy and enthusiasm. Her first song of the night from the previous albums comes in the form of ‘Universe and You’, only to be followed by ‘If Only’ from the album ‘Drastic Fantastic’ in 2007. For this song the band make their way to the front of the stage and pick up acoustic instruments and play alongside KT. This adds a really nice intimate atmosphere with the band fully feeding off each other.
The band leaves the stage and leave KT alone. KT is not one to shy away from solo performances with this section of her gigs being an ever-present part in all the gigs I have attended. It soon becomes clear why she always chooses to go it alone for a portion of the gig as she excels, showing her support act how it is done. She plays ‘Other side of the World’ using a Chaos pad, a Roland synth, her trusty loop pedal and her guitar. She plays this in a totally new way, almost making it sound like a new song. This part showcases her raspy voice which made me fall in love with her the first time I seen her on Irish TV way back when.
She previews a “brand, brand new song” called ‘Scarlet Tulip’ which goes down a treat with the Dublin crowd. She then begins by tapping her foot, this single tapping of the foot sends the crowd wild, knowing the beat being tapped will end up being the beat for ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’. Her band rejoins her halfway through the song, which adds a new dimension. Especially because she rarely performs this song with a full band set up.
She once again treats us to some new songs off the album such as ‘Difficulty’, ‘Lost’ and ‘The Entertainer’, only before performing the stand out track of the night in my opinion, ‘Saving My Face’. She rip roars through this song and the crowd react in full voice. She then plays the best song off the new album ‘Fade Like a Shadow’.
She leaves the stage and returns to play ‘Funny Man’ and then a fabulous rendition of The Cure’s ‘Close to Me’. A really fabulous cover, from an artist that can do no wrong when covering other artist’s songs. She ends the gig with ‘Suddenly I See’. The song destined to end all of her gigs forever more.
The gig ends and all the punters go home smiling. She promised to be back and will no doubt grace our shores once more to play some festivals. My advice, do not miss the chance to see one of the UK and Ireland’s most talented female artists. I will be there. Will you?
