KT rocks!

On the 11^th of April, we went to the Hammersmith Apollo to see KT Tunstall, finally after three months of impatiently waiting, tickets at the ready. We thought at first that the show might not take place at all. As we arrived at the Apollo, the entire area around the venue was blocked off, with policemen stopping access to the already forming queue for KT. The street was cleared of traffic and even the tube entrances across the street were closed. We snuck into line though; we weren’t going to risk missing the show! We found out later there had been a bomb threat – soggy sandwiches in a leftover lunch bag. Easy mistake.

First, Sam Lewis came on stage. His smooth soulful voice sailed across the crowd without a slip up - Jack Johnson-esque. Twice calling his father up on stage was sweet, though, as was dad. Only later did we put it together that he is KT’s lead guitarist in the band.

When Teitur came on stage next, his appearance was full-on geek, minus the chic. We all gave him a chance. and Dani and the crowd finally warmed to him, as his mannerisms were actually endearing, and his appearance was so ugly, f-ugly even, that he was almost cute. Like a really ugly puppy. Just as the crowd warmed to him and started to classify his as quirky and original rather than straight up nerd, he went off the deep end and ruined his entire act with a sadly solo a capella song with far too many verses. The crowd began grumbling during the song as it was just too weird. He has a great voice and is a talented musician, but I think the crowd wasn’t quite sure if he was taking the piss, and if so, was he taking the piss out of himself? Or us?

And finally….KT was drastically fantastic! Slinking out in an (revealing all-white) jeans and Ghostbusters II T-shirt outfit, KT teased us with the idea that this former London tube busker may somehow be just like us. But from the perfect curves of her body to the complex tones of her deep Scottish voice, KT Tunstall proved for 2 hours straight that she was always destined to become a star.

KT rocked from the gates, addressing the bomb threat before the show quite gracefully. Despite the sniffer dogs, policemen, and firefighters all blocking us off, we still managed to see her, and from the front row centre at that. Seeing KT so close up, her tiny size (a petit 5’2”) is overshadowed by her big, confident clear voice and glam guitars. We have to talk about her guitars…after each and every song roadies brought her out a different guitar, and our position in front allowed me to sneak a peak off stage, where I caught a rack with at least 20 guitars hanging, ready to be brought out to KT - some folk style acoustic guitars and some completely glam.

Though the band was involved the whole time, the night was all KT, whether intentional or not. She stood front and centre for the whole show and thankfully took time alone on stage for her classic ‘Black horse and a cherry tree’ and an “old picky picky tune’ – a slow, skilfully played guitar tune. KT treated the Apollo like a pub gig; her banter was that of a bartender or a busker but not a big star, which made the sold-out popping event actually quite intimate.

We both enjoyed the show very much, and Dani pointed out that even though she is huge worldwide she remained a normal girl, like the girl next door, and it was plain good fun to watch her play.