Emily Shaw (and mum) went to Bradford’s St George’s Hall to see Kate Rusby …
On Thursday the 19th of September, I went to see Kate Rusby at St George’s Hall in Bradford. It was the first time I had been to the Hall, and it was a great venue for a very enjoyable evening.
St George’s Hall seemed to have fantastic acoustics for the performance, and the sound carried brilliantly. It felt like for most of the time Kate wouldn’t have needed a microphone!
Knowing how eclectic my taste in music is, my mum had bought tickets to the event months in advance, as a long time fan of Kate Rusby. I have to admit that I had not heard many of Kate’s songs before going to the concert, but I am certainly a convert.
Kate’s voice is beautiful, folksy and haunting, and along with her band she sounded incredible. The band was four pieces, with everything from accordions to banjos being played, and ‘the boys’, as Kate called them, even performed a solo piece. I was shocked to hear at the end of the show that this performance was only the second for two of the band, which was incredible, as the entire band worked in harmony.
One of my favourite parts of the night wasn’t just the singing, but the talking in between. Kate and her band are very funny, and it was great as an audience member to be told a little bit about each song before it was sung, to gauge the tone and some of the back-story that comes with the songs. Lots of little anecdotes broke the concert up so that it wasn’t just one song straight into another, and that gave those of us in the audience chance to savour the songs.
Kate Rusby is a brilliantly talented singer, and it’s great to have someone so well known coming from Yorkshire.
Much as I like recorded folk music, there is something about the genre that makes it even greater live. I’m not sure if it’s the instruments or the atmosphere, but if you’ve never seen folk music live, I would definitely recommend you try it.
Kate is touring the country at the minute, but don’t be disheartened if you missed her in Bradford, there are tour dates coming up later in the year for in Yorkshire. Find out tour dates and buy tickets and CD’s at www.katerusby.com
Sorry to have missed this, Emily. I love Kate Rusby and have seen her four times; on each occasion she was in greater voice than the time before. But the first three times I have to say my total enjoyment was compromised somewhat by the irritating tweeness of her between-songs patter. However on the last occasion (at Saltaire’s Victoria Hall which has far better acoustics and atmosphere than St George’s Hall – trust me!) she had grown up and was genuinely warm and funny, a consummate performer. I hope to catch her at one of the local dates later this year that you mention
Thanks for commenting! Hopefully I’ll catch something at Victoria Hall then! I hope you manage to watch her later in the year, she really is great.
Thanks you, i like 🙂
Was there and loved it! It’s fantastic hearing such beauty and melody come from a reet Yokshire voice – and there are few better places to see her than Bradford.