KT Tunstall and band
8pm 21st June
Olympia Theatre
Dublin

We got to the venue at about 7.30pm and took residence just behind the pit in front of a barrier.
The support act was some Scottish fella and his guitar. He said his name was Alan and seemed quite nervous, forgetting the words to some of his songs. He did mention he was only asked to play at the last minute and the crowd seemed to forgive him. Even though I didn’t!

KT came on stage just after 9pm to huge applause. She was looking quite the dyke-magnet in her waistcoat and boots. She waved and greeted Dublin before picking up her white electric guitar and starting off with “Miniature Disasters“. The crowd warmed up very quickly and were singing along to every word. She kept the upbeat mood with “Little Favours” and the single “Hold On“. The chemistry between KT, her band and the audience never let up for a moment, even when she moved into her slow set. She was alone on stage for a couple of these songs and we also got an exclusive performance of a song she hadn’t even named yet (“Heart of Me” seemed to be what she settled for). This was a beautiful bluesy number which allowed her extremely under-rated vocal talent to shine. She forgot some of the words about halfway through but I did forgive her!

The akai headrush (or “wee bastard” as she affectionately calls it) made its appearance for “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree“. This contraption is used for sampling her own voice and mixing it into the live performance (mainly her “woo-hoos” and tapping out the beat on the body of her guitar). She performed the song solo until her band returned from their backstage sojourn and rejoined her seamlessly to oomph up the chorus for a goosebump-inducing finish. Some more of her ballads followed with KT commenting on what great singers we were. Cue more cheers.

Her banter with the crowd was refreshing and usually funny. You got the impression she’d love to do stand-up. She didn’t hesitate to interact and even responded to the hopeful marriage proposal shouted at her while she tuned her guitar. If I hadn’t been hoarse at this point I might have thrown in my own proposal with “in LA” tagged on the end! When she mentioned her belief that she should have been wearing her braces and marching down the street that day it prompted the loudest and most enthusiastic applause of the evening (which is saying something).

Her last three numbers were upbeat and ended with one of my favourites, “Suddenly I See”, which everyone imagines to be about KT having a crush on a woman in a magazine when it’s really just about admiration. But we can all dream! Her encore consisted of three songs, two slower ones from “Eye to the Telescope” and then “I Don’t Want You Now” which she insisted was not about us!

I’m looking forward to seeing KT play live again especially if it’s in such an intimate venue. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to Kerry this evening but she is playing at the Galway Arts Festival on the 23rd of July! If you’ve never seen KT live before, you need to go!

http://www.kttunstall.com/

Watch the performance that launched KT’s career: Black Horse & A Cherry Tree

Watch an apt joke from KT!