paloma faith brings her ‘glorification of sadness tour’ to dunfermline’s alhambra theatre.

★★★★☆ (4/5)

PALOMA FAITH PERFORMING AT DUNFERMLINE’S ALHAMBRA THEATRE
PHOTOCREDIT: CALUM BUCHAN

Paloma Faith, singer, songwriter, actress and former judge on The Voice UK, brought her Glorification of Sadness Tour, currently selling out to packed audiences across the UK, to the Alhambra in Dunfermline. Never holding back from being unapologetically honest and expressing her emotions through her music, Paloma’s Glorification of Sadness album records the stages of grief she went through in breaking up with her ex husband, French artist, Leyman Lahcine. As Paloma remarked, “The Glorification of Sadness is a real miserable affair”, yet at the same time it takes us on an emotional journey of regaining that feeling of being good enough.

Opening with How To Leave A Man and God In A Dress demonstrated Paloma’s range as a vocalist, but also the release of anger and dejection, leading then to a sense of empowerment. The darkened stage set and strobe lighting amplified the message of the songs. We felt the sadness, that feeling of bitterness and emptiness as she connected to the audience when singing Bad Woman, Divorce and Eat Shit and Die, while relating in a deeply personal way to others who have also experienced a break up. “I am probably in the middle of a nervous breakdown, I would say, if not that, a mid life crisis”, said Paloma, yet this processing of raw emotions has led to her feeling this is her strongest album to date.

Paloma interjected between songs about being a single mother now and juggling the everyday chores with pop stardom. “Women are so burnt out”, she quipped, engaging the audience in her ideals for equality. The need to move on from the sadder emotions was evoked through

Let It Ride and Enjoy Yourself; Paloma ditching her high heels for the comfort of bare feet on stage to the apt lyrics of Sweatpants, “Will you still love me with my heels off? Will you still love me when I’m old and no longer young?” The general vibe relaxed towards the break, with Paloma reminding us she had no support act and quirking “I thought, why not be my own support act?”. It was the perfect opportunity too during intermission for her fanbase to grab some merchandise. Indeed, it was a concert with two distinct parts, the latter half becoming much more upbeat and Paloma performing her older iconic hits.

On Paloma’s return, not only was there a change of hair colour from blond to brown, but also a change of attire from sombre black to silver sequins, more engaging of the party spirit and kicking away those shoes again. That feeling of starting up from where she left off was echoed in hits such as Stone Cold Sober, Picking Up The Pieces, Cry Baby and Upside Down. Paloma did remark that the second half was more likened to her old self, “I come back as the old me. She was married and she made a lot of mistakes and she wasted a lot of time. She should have been a bit wiser”, but the quirky beat of Gold hit a real high. The audience rose to their feet, hands and bodies swaying to

I Can’t Rely On You and the collaboration hits of Lullaby and Changing. There was a build up of anticipation of Paloma’s last number Only Love Can Hurt Like This, now in its 10th anniversary. Not only did it prove to be a highlight of the evening, but had the audience singing in unison.