Gig Report: KT Tunstall

Date: Friday 19 October, 9.00pm
Venue: Manchester Apollo Theatre
Face Value: £19.50
Support Act: King Creosote
Gig buddy: Phil

Rounding out the biggest week in Rocktober for us (3 gigs in 5 days - very silly!) we meet up with friends in town for some pre-gig drinks and stay longer than expected... cue dash for ATM/taxi/venue in time to get another drink and completely miss the support act (King Creosote). I'm not fussed as I've never heard of them, but Phil's face shows disappointment.

Nevermind - we enter the standing area of the Apollo which is 1) rammed and 2) very hot. No idea why they had heating on, this was only going to get hotter.

Sadly we hadn't had a chance to listen to the new album (Drastic Fantastic) on account of the ongoing postal strike (Royal Mail - get back to work already!!) so we were all ears open for the newer tracks coming our way. KT enters the stage, complete with sparkly dress, cowgirl boots and a broad smile. She's entertaining, funny and spontaneous, creating clever loops with her pedals and at all times aware of her audience's mood. She's also got the old stuff/new stuff mix just right and all tracks delivered with aplomb, even the ones she must surely be sick of playing like 'Black Horse and a Cherry Tree'. Also impressive is the number of guitars she brings out on stage - the mirrored one being my favourite. Definitely best gig of the week, even if the people up the back clearly weren't into it (curious thing that the atmosphere improved in factors of 10 the closer we got to the front).

We also learnt a couple of handy hints for anyone new to the gig scene... if there is a space closer to the front that appears to be sparsely populated it's because:

a) the closest guy smells really really bad, or

b) the closest couple are having a massive domestic argument and about to start swinging

Overall: Top gig - lots of fun, great stage and lighting, but get closer to the front so as to avoid people who are too afraid to show they are having a great time (and snigger at those who are).

Rating: 4 spangly guitars

(Thanks to the people on the KT Tunstall.com forum for the pictures - I didn't have a camera on me and my photography is usually rubbish anyway).