CAT BURNS LIVE AT GLASGOW’S O2 ACADEMY

★★★★☆ (4/5)

CAT BURNS PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S O2 ACADEMY
PHOTOCREDIT: REANNE MCARTHUR

Cat Burns started out as a voice for hire while always knowing that she wanted to be an artist in her own right, writing and singing her own music, which she started doing from a very young age while trying to find a record deal which proved difficult as she is very hard for labels to understand with her eclectic mix of influences.

She released her debut album, Early Twenties, in July of this year and took to the road in support of it throughout October.

The last three years have seen Cat’s star rise, her 2020 single, Go, was a slow burner, eventually reaching No 2 in the charts in 2022 (partly due to its popularity on Tik Tok). She has also, already, got three brit nominations despite only really starting to become prominent in the last two years. Clearly, she’s an emerging talent who was well worth seeing. I did mention to a few people I know I was going, and they were all quite jealous.

Cat has also been open about who her struggles with who she is as she struggled to reconcile it with her ethnicity, ADHD and Autism, all of which permeates through her writing and performances.

I was, therefore, surprised that this show didn’t feel like it had sold out. Clearly not enough people know Cat yet to give this a go. That’s a shame as she’s a real talent.

Cat has been gigging a lot over the last few years supporting various artists such as Olly Alexander and, for some shows, Ed Sheeran, so she’s clearly someone rated by other artists.

What’s difficult with Cat is working out what kind of music she produces, it feels at times Indie, at times Soulful, at times Gospel, at times Pop and all uniquely her own.

So how was it? The voice is better live than on record at times, at times it’s the other way round, her stage presence is clearly developing but she’s already reaching the stage that she will command attention while not being fully 100% there yet. The band are tight and provided excellent backing. If I have one complaint, it’s that too many of the audience spent too much time on their phones recording the show (possibly as a result of the Tik Tok origins of Go) and not enough time just enjoying it and watching/listening to an artist who is clearly on the rise.

The show drew heavily on her debut album, a strong collection of songs focussing on the trails and tribulations of being young and dealing with life and all its various issues.

There is a real connection between Cat and her fans, many of whom were singing the lyrics back to her from songs which have been out for a while now. She engaged in some dialogue with them and there was some interplay. Cat has clearly been honing her stagecraft while supporting on stadium tours, but I felt a couple of times she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. A clear sign she is still growing and developing as an artist, I, for one, think she’s going to be massive if she keeps up on this trajectory.

Go, of course, got the biggest reception of the night and was the closing song of the show, but everything else was just as good. There is something building here. Cat has no more shows planned for this year that I’m aware of but when she does, I suspect they will be even better than this, this is one artist very much on an upwards trajectory! A couple of great choices of covers just cemented this. Go listen to Cat Burns and go see her the next time she tours, you won’t be disappointed.