Have we still got faith in Paloma?
PALOMA FAITH WAS THE ARCHITECT OF A GREAT SHOW – BUT SOME HITS WERE MISSING, SAYS SIMON DUKE
BEFORE she takes to the stage in what we hope will be glorious sunshine at the Mouth of the Tyne festival in a few months’ time, Paloma Faith had a roof over her head on Friday night as she returned to the Metro Radio Arena.
Last time she was here in 2015 she exited in a blaze of glory after a barnstorming set that included a cover of River Deep Mountain High but could she reach the same heights three years later?
Well, I’ll get it out there straight away, I preferred that show.
But that’s not to say that the delightfully eccentric singer wasn’t on great form his time around.
If anything, her, for me, vastly underrated vocals have got better. But the evening was etched with a smattering of disappointment due to some of the songs that were missing from her set.
I get, that with four albums now under her belt, the job of picking and choosing which tracks to take on tour must be trickier for Paloma, but the absence of stellar showstoppers like Stone Cold Sober, Trouble With My Baby, Never Teats Us Apart and, particularly, New York was a blow.
That said, with latest album The Architect giving the former Voice UK coach another hit, who can blame her for wanting to showcase it an arena setting?
And not wanting to take anything away from her or it, there are some mighty fine songs on it. Early highlights
included Crybaby and the Bond theme-esque Guilty, with its soaring chorus.
And the first gem from Paloma’s evergrowing back catalogue came seven songs in courtesy of Call from Grace’s Just Be. That track has a definite ‘youcould-hear-a-pin-drop’ quality, which would be the case once again if the Newcastle audience hadn’t been so vocal in singing along – but that’s what concerts are for right?
The packed arena crowd didn’t have to wait much longer for more, either, with the much contrasting Can’t Rely on U and Picking Up The Pieces following soon after, the latter for me still Paloma’s finest single to date, and one which always gets her fans going.
The mix of styles on The Architect made for an eclectic evening. One minute Paloma, decked out in a very Studio 54-esque silver tasselled laden dress, was shaking everything to the likes of My Body and Til I’m Done, another one of my standout moments of her set, and the next she was delivering the poignant lyrics to the likes of Kings & Queens and WW3.
Paloma is a very versatile performer who’s not afraid of a dance beat, or a collaboration, for that matter. And thankfully new single, Lullaby, an huge No 1 Changing, her 2014 hook-up with Sigma, both made the set list cut and brought the crowd to her feet.
An evening of music, interspersed with plenty of soul-baring at times, with chat from its leading lady on everything from childbirth to racial discrimination, was brought to a close by Only Love Can Hurt Like This and another Architect cut, Love Me As I Am.
For me the set should have closed on a more familiar note but who am I to argue with a Brit Award winner with four hit albums under her belt?
As the lyrics of My Body go, ‘this might not be typical, but it is all original’ and you certainly can’t argue with that.
Paloma Faith is an artist who is very hard to pigeonhole and is all the better for it.