KT TUNSTALL // THE QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH

KT TUNSTALL PLAYS THE QUEEN’S HALL, EDINBURGH WITH SUPPORT ACT, NINA NESBITT

KT TUNSTALL PERFORMING AT EDINBURGH'S QUEEN'S HALL - 19/04/2017
PICTURE BY: EMMA RODGER PHOTOGRAPHY

The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, saw the merging of the talents of two gifted female Scottish singer-songwriter/musicians, K T Tunstall and Nina Nesbitt.  Support Act, Nina, wowing the audience with her new short brunette hairstyle, opened up to a packed venue of applauding fans.  The singer, whose album Peroxide propelled her to fame as a teenager, delivered a set list of seven songs which included The Apple Tree and Ontario, as well as treating the audience to a taste of her new upcoming album.  The aptly chosen lyrics of The Moments I’m Missing about her experiences of growing up in Edinburgh were certainly a hit with the local crowd and the hall erupted into a fervour of clapping and cheering as she performed her last number, the iconic Stay Out.

K T Tunstall, recently honoured with an ‘inspirational artist’ gong at the Women in Music Awards and now living in Venice Beach, California, bounced onto the stage in the second half and shouted to the audience how good it was to be back in Edinburgh.  Clad in silver metallic leggings and white tee with black waistcoat, and supported by only her guitar and loop pedal, this ‘one woman show’ dynamically launched into the first song Miniature Disasters.  The Entertainer swiftly followed, a song she wrote after watching a documentary about American jazz trumpeter and singer, Chet Baker.

Every song she writes has its own story.  Her ability to engage the audience through her anecdotes of life and make them laugh, makes it feel like an intimate one to one show.  In no time she had five fans from the side stalls willing to get up and do a crazy dance to secure a block of five vacant seats near the stage.  The audience not only beatboxed to the track, It Took Me So Long To Get Here, But Here I Am, the third single from her new album, Kin, but offered multiple suggestions of names for her electronic drum machine – general consensus was that Pete the Beat was spot on.

There was enthusiastic applause to favourites such as Other Side Of The World, Hold On/Walk Like An Egyptian with excerpts of The Bangles’ old hit, Crescent Moon and Maybe It’s A Good Thing.  The atmosphere became electric when Tunstall went on to perform her chart-busting hit Black Horse and The Cherry Tree with solo moment on the kazoo.  This led her to reminisce about seeing a band in the States playing this song and her giving a thumbs up to the guitarist, but he had no idea who she was. 

She puts her all into making each concert the best it can be, not only changing her guitar for almost every song, but asking fans to submit their suggestions online for cover versions of songs.  Seldom shy to rise to the occasion, K T Tunstall performed a brilliant cover of David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars.  As an audience member remarked, Tunstall is a true star, because despite any errors with her new loop machine, she joked her way through it and the crowd adored her.  The night appeared to come to a close with Stoppin’ The Love, but after the first encore, the crowd made it obviously clear they wanted more.   Tunstall played a very touching tribute to Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, who passed recently, with a cover of Black Hole Sun.  She reminded the audience that watching a gig on a screen can never have the magical atmosphere of a live event and ended the evening on a high with her epic hit, Suddenly I See.

KT TUNSTALL'S TOUR CONTINUES:

MAY 20 - DERNGATE THEATRE - NORTHAMPTON, UK
MAY 22 - BARBICAN - LONDON, UK
MAY 23 - G LIVE - GUILDFORD, UK
MAY 24 - BATHS HALL - SCUNTHORPE, UK
MAY 26 - PARR HALL - WARRINGTON, UK
MAY 27 - ARTS CENTRE - WARWICK, UK
MAY 28 - VENUE CYMRU - LLANDUDNO, UK
JUNE 06 - WATERFRONT - BELFAST, UK
JUNE 07 - OLYMPIA THEATRE - DUBLIN, IRELAND
JUNE 10 - KESWICK MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL - KESWICK, UK
JUNE 13 - BILLBOARD LIVE - OSAKA, JAPAN
JUNE 15 - BILLBOARD LIVE - OSAKA, JAPAN
JUNE 16 - BILLBOARD LIVE - OSAKA, JAPAN
JULY 01 - TUNES IN THE DUNES - PERRANPORTH, UK
JULY 07 - PICTUREDROME - HOLMFIRTH, UK
JULY 09 - SOUTH TYNESIDE FESTIVAL - SOUTH SHEILDS, UK
JULY 14 - TRADES CLUB - HEBDEN BRIDGE, UK
JULY 15 - PLATFORM FESTIVAL - POCKLINGTON, UK
JULY 16 - FLASHPOINT FESTIVAL - MARKET HARBOROUGH, UK
JULY 23 - JIMMY'S FESTIVAL - IPSWICH, UK
JULY 24 - THE STABLES - MILTON KEYNES, UK
JULY 25 - GAWSWORTH HALL - MACCLESFIELD, UK
JULY 30 - STANDON CALLING - WARE, UK
AUGUST 03 - WICKHAM FESTIVAL - WICKHAM, UK
AUGUST 04 - KELVINGROVE BANDSTAND - GLASGOW, UK
AUGUST 05 - BELLADRUM TARTAN HEART FESTIVAL - BEAULY, UK
AUGUST 23 - GAIETY THEATRE - DOUGLAS, UK
AUGUST 25 - TOWERSEY FESTIVAL - THAME, UK
AUGUST 26 - CARFEST - SOUTH OVERTON, UK
AUGUST 27 - VICTORIOUS FESTIVAL 2017 - PORTSMOUTH, UK
SEPTEMBER 10 - BLACKHEATH COMMON - LONDON, UK

PHOTOS BY: EMMA RODGER PHOTOGRAPHY
REVIEW BY: CATHERINE BUCHAN

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