Paloma Faith: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – 02/02/13

Platinum album; done. Hits; done. Brit nominations; done and now Paloma Faith is following through with all these momentous occasions with a UK tour which stopped at Wolverhampton last Saturday.

Supporting Paloma was the unique Josephine, hailing from Manchester. With her strong, powerful vocals, reminding me a little of Joan Armatrading, this bright new star was the perfect aperitif; utterly unique and completely compelling.

9pm arrives quickly and before we know what’s happening, Paloma arrives on stage in her trademark 1940’s, vintage style; this time opting for a beautiful black dress embellished with gold jewellery. She kicks off the set with ‘Let Your Love Walk In’ and then, the curtains draw open to introduce her amazing band and elaborate stage setting.

Next it’s her new LP, Fall To Grace which flowed into my personal favourite; her version of ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. I did not ever believe that anyone could ever do justice to INXS’s original hit but my word, this woman does! It sounds as good live as it does recorded.

Paloma’s banter is funny and charming. She certainly knows how to talk to her fans; stopping on more than one occasion to have a good old chat with us. She made us feel we were really part of something very intimate indeed. She engaged the audience for a mass singalong next with ’30 Minute Love Affair’ before dancing around the stage (in those shoes; How on earth?) to ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’.

One of the highlights of the night was ‘New York’ which once again, prompted the entire audience to join in with gusto at the chorus and then, just when we think she couldn’t trump the set, out comes an absolutely perfect version of the amazing ‘Something’s Got A Hold On Me’ by Etta James.

Stunned and awed silence ensues when Paloma breaks into ‘Just Be’. After a few more tracks, Paloma explains that she’s not going to walk off stage and then on again for an encore (“I’m not going to patronise you….”) and then proceeds to blow us all away with ‘Picking Up The Pieces’.

I have to be honest, I don’t own a Paloma Faith album or single; I just tend to listen to her round my Sister’s but after seeing this incredibly talented singer/songwriter and ultimate performer, I won’t waste my time in owning EVERYTHING she’s created. What a woman; what a band; what a show!