Tuesday, April 1, 2008
KT Tunstall 'Live': As folk as rock
It is always nice to watch a chick with a guitar, especially one who plays feisty folk-rock with swagger to boot.
KT Tunstall’s performance at the Suntec City Convention Hall on March 27 wasn't exactly near full-house, but it attracted a sizeable crowd of expatriates, hordes of 20-somethings and the occasional group of teenagers.
After all, the repertoire of raucous chorus-sing-along rock songs interspersed with mellow folk ditties by the 32-year-old Grammy-nominated and Brit Award-winning artiste tends to elude the younger listeners and raises the average age of her fans.
The show started fashionably late at 8.45 p.m. and KT was accompanied on stage by a four-piece band and two mascara-wearing backup singers. Her bassist, with his frizzy hair, mustachio and pull-over vest, uncannily resembled a preppy version of Borat. Yes, that naïve faux Kazakhstan journalist.
KT, in ripped jeans and full bangs parted by the sides of her face, was in her usual get-up. And she does look smaller in person compared to the videos of her performances posted online.
Riding on audience anticipation – the crowd cheered whenever the roadie went on stage to tune the guitars nearing the start of the show – the band dived into playing without much introduction.
The show didn't really kick off until the third song, which KT introduced as a “warning” to anyone contemplating a long-distance relationship. They proceeded to play “Other Side of the World,” her raspy vocals sounding more dejected than cajoling.
After that, the show became informally conversational and anecdotal as it was punctuated with frequent crowd interaction. At one point, KT received a pencil-sketched portrait of herself from some fans and gamely posed with it. Later, she also tried to high-five some of the other fans.
However, the best part of the gig was to watch KT do her one-woman percussion-guitar-singing looping. Armed with her acoustic guitar and loop machine, she played a slightly faster-than-normal rendition of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” to rapturous applause.
The crowd was clearly lapping up her antics, and more of her familiar tunes such as “Suddenly I See.” Her mellower songs, such as “Universe & U” played during the encore, slowed the show’s tempo a little and fell slightly short. This is perhaps a reason why her latest album, “Drastic Fantastic,” is filled with edgier rock songs to compensate for the larger arenas she has been filling.
Much credit has to go to the drummer, who is also her fiancé, for keeping the band’s sound tight and frenetic. More evidence of why KT is better-suited to faster songs is during the cover of “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles, a silly but riotous air-punching number. The crowd loved it.
The show was over in about 90 minutes, inclusive of an encore. KT promised to come back. And we will be waiting, with good reasons.
Photo Credits: Muhammad Farhat Kamal
