Saturday, October 21, 2023

Gig Review - Kezia Gill - O2 Institute Birmingham


Kezia Gill has her name in lights!  The Misfit tour rolled in to the O2 Institute in Birmingham on Friday night for the seventh of eight nights on the tour. The tour started on her birthday, and the party hasn’t stopped since.

 

Opening for Kezia was Sinead Burgess – an Australian who comes to us via Nashville.  Sinead has been having the time of her life travelling around the UK with the band, and Friday was extra special as it was also release day for her latest single Ain’t Thinking About You.  Sinead’s music and songwriting is very emotive and suits the UK audience, her performance is reminiscent of artists such as Sheryl Crow, whose songs and storytelling always connected well.

 


The stage lights dimmed apart from the bright green neon sign proclaiming Kezia’s name.  The Misfit Tour opened – of course – with the title song.  Full of energy Kezia was a shimmering star in the green whirl of the stage.  Even though it’s a new album, the packed room were word perfect for every song.

 


Kezia doesn’t just share her music; she loves to bring you into her world.  You have to love the honesty that comes out when Kezia introduces her songs.  All the fans will forever be grateful to the Jack Daniels night in Oxford and the songs it produced.  Whilst we wish we could hear the “horrendous ones”, in Kezia’s words we will settle for what we got.  This story was the setting for Kezia to perform solo – “just me and you” as she puts it. 

Kezia says, “it wouldn’t be a Kezia Gill tour without a little cry”, but as she is a party girl at heart, she compressed them all into a little segment.  Kezia suggested that “You will cry during, but you’ll have has a good time” works just as well for describing her shows and for a Tinder profile!


Kezia blends country, with a bit of blues, some rock and some fabulous traditional storytelling, with some of her songs being very personal – House On The Hill describing that one place she loves the most, despite visiting fabulous locations there’s nothing better than putting your slippers on at home, and we heard a superb segue of Price of Loving You into the song for her father Local Man’s Star.

The setlist was mainly the new album, but some songs had to be included – Country Song (written in Nashville about Nashville) and Thirties both drawing an excited reaction from the crowd, for whom these are firm favourites.  At times a brief story is all it takes to guess what’s coming!



Kezia is a very warm, personable performer.  Her acknowledgements of not just the band (Luke Thomas, Luke Barrett, Phil Donnelly, Cristiano Pochesci) but her wider team (Sound Engineer Ian Clarke, Manager Donna Zanetti, opening artist Sinead) are heartfelt and always end up with her “Best friend, Husband and Tour Manager Lloydy”.

Every show must come to an end, but no fake encores for Kezia.  She announced her last song, forgoing the pantomime of leaving the stage only to come back on.  Although she now has quite a back catalogue to choose from, there could only be one song as the finale for the Whisky Drinking Woman - who was born a Misfit.

Silverball Country attended the Misfit Tour as guests of ZimagineD Artist Management



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