This is a small venue so there were only three in the band with Bev on stage. I'd be interested to hear if at other concerts she had a bigger band. She played nine songs each side of a 20 minute interval. Perhaps an hour and half of playing.
The set was -
Woman to Woman, Tick Tock, Come home to me, Two of a kind, She doesn't need saving, We found a place, Mollie's song, Pheonix from the Fire, Afraid of letting go, [Interval], Holding On, Love Scenes, In those days, Move on, Love is the light, Feels like the first time, I Miss You, Promise Me, I Listen to the Rain
So five from the first album, five from Love Scenes and eight from Mixed Emotions. The last track was "sort of" an Encore. The band left after Promise Me, and she performed I Listen to the Rain on her own and the show ended.
The band was Ian Bairnson on Guitar who did pretty well. Mostly rhythm and acoustic filling in of the sound. The few solos he took showed that he is a more capable player than the role he fills here. The sax player was Nigel Hitchcock, who is no Frank Mead. Competant player, but when you've seen Frank perform and the real lift he gives a performance, anyone else seems a poor comparison. Star of the band was John Giblin's string bass playing. He did some very weird stuff that kept you interested. Very talented. He also plays some tracks on Mixed Emotions.
The new material actually came over very well. I found myself enjoying it more here than listening to the CD, and you don't always get that at a live performance. Perhaps it's somewhat because I found Mixed Emotions a bit bland on the first few hearings. I'd be interested in others opinions here. It took me a while to get into the new stuff. It felt they were more of the same from the first albums. Perhaps it's that she's done her own production this time. I think Paul Samwell-Smith did a fine job, particularly on the first album. Perhaps his influence is what has given her that cutting edge that the new album seems to lack. Certainly the new material does have great depth. If you feel similarly on hearing the new material, go see her live. Its well worth it.
Bev didn't really have a lot of what you'd call "stage presence". You don't go to listen to her patter between the songs, after all, (you speak for yourself - where else can I get all the info about the songs! - Webmaster) but that amazing voice and songwriting talent. The intros to the songs did give an insight into the fact that most of her songs are inspired by her relationships with friends and family. The rest from failed film music scores! Many of the stories I'd heard before and you may have too, so I won't go into each song introduction. From the new album Tick Tock was written about her sister who is 29 going on 30. Afraid of letting go and Move on were written as a result of her parents divorce. Interesting, since to me these were two of the stronger songs from the album.
In summary a great night out. Well worth seeing.