If you have read any of my previous gig reviews you know I tend to put a very personal slant on them. This review will be no exception. I need to discuss the preamble to the gig. More so what was taking place with me before even setting out to travel to Edinburgh.
Recently my incredibly focused side of my neurodivergence has been at the fore. Yesterday it was very present as well. When I am in a better state of physical health, the walk down to the venue wouldn’t be a problem. One mile? Easy peasy. But I was a bit more worried about the walk back. Last year when I went and saw Jimmy Webb at Queen’s Hall (which is just around the corner from Summerhall) it was early June and so the dusk of the day was around after the gig was finished. But it’s getting darker earlier now and I didn’t much fancy that walk back to Waverley. So, I spent the morning investigating bus routes that would take me to Summerhall and back. I got really bogged down in it and was fretting about certain routes and whether I would have to navigate steep inclines, etc. I spent about 4 hours just checking and rechecking routes, timetables and listing all the buses and times that I would need to know. It was exhausting in an intense focus and concentration kind of way, but I wanted to be sure I was familiar with it all before setting out.
I arrived in Edinburgh just after 5pm. When I left Glasgow it was still reasonably sunny but as the train travelled through the Central Belt, the skies were getting increasingly gloomy. Edinburgh was dry when I arrived but as soon as I left Waverley station, the heavens opened and it tipped it down. I took refuge in the Costa coffee just by the station entrance.
I got chatting to a nice man who was taking refuge from the rain also. Turned out he was a Jesus freak – but he wasn’t at all pushy with it. He just handed me a leaflet and left it at that. Our chat had nothing to do with him trying to convert me or anything. Just nice, polite conversation. He really was lovely company as I waited for the rain to subside some. In fact, Stephen (as he asked me my name and then told me his) actually – by way of his suggestion that I could wile away some time in the shopping mall around the corner – helped me to score myself a free doughnut. In a manner of speaking.
The rain eased but was still falling when I decided to heed Stephen’s suggestion and I headed for St James Quarter. Once sheltered inside I noticed there was a Krispy Kreme on the 1st floor. I decided to head there and have a coffee and a doughnut. As I was being served I said to the girl serving me that I had a dilemma. I couldn’t make my mind up between two flavours: sticky toffee swirl and Biscoff. She said that the Biscoff was the most popular flavour but the sticky toffee was on a limited run. With that information, I decided on the sticky toffee. As I was paying up, she handed me two bags and whispered to me “I’ve given you a Biscoff as well – shhh.” How lovely was that?! I nearly wanted to cry. Just a random act of kindness like that was so lovely. Maybe I gave off a vibe of how utterly skint I was, I dunno? I was ssoo grateful. Both were delicious but OH MY WORD – the Biscoff was definitely the winner!
By 6pm the rain had ceased altogether so I decided to head to the bus stop and get the first bus going in the direction of Summerhall that came along. No more than 10 minutes later I was off the bus. I actually went down a stop too far. I was familiar with my surroundings due to last year’s Jimmy Webb gig but not familiar enough to know which stop to get off at. It was no problem at all. And I was there plenty early and the rain had cleared off so I could make sure I knew where the stop was that I’d be needing to wait at after the gig. All that research at the beginning of the day meant I was really comfortable with where I was and what I was doing then, rather than getting stressed and panicked trying to find things.
As I went into Summerhall to avail myself of the bathroom facilities, the man at the desk told me there was a bar that I could go to to wait for doors opening. The bar’s name? The Royal Dick. I had seen it on the map earlier in the day and said to the OH, ‘Oh my God, there’s a bar called The Royal Dick near Summerhall. Lol. What are the chances?’ Well, it turned out The Royal Dick was directly behind Summerhall, accessible through Summerhall’s ‘back entrance’ as it were. Lol. I didn’t go into the Dick. I had no money to buy a drink so what would be the point of going in there.
Finally on to the gig itself. Leoni Jane Kennedy was The Anchoress’s support (she also plays guitar in Catherine’s band on this tour) and wow! She’s fantastic! More a traditional classic rock/country music artist. Great voice! An exceedingly good guitarist. Talent to burn! She performed a small set of…I think seven songs. The one that stood out for me was called Ammunition. They were all great but that one spoke to me in relation to the song’s lyrics and subject matter. Really, really enjoyed her set. If she plays Glasgow in the future, I’ll go and see her.
Just a short wait and then Catherine arrived on stage wearing her fabulous blue suit that is a nod and homage to David Bowie a la ‘Life On Mars?’ video. Underneath the suit jacket was the signature leopard print in the form of a dark silk blouse. She walked on to the sound of The Art of Losing opener ‘Moon Rise (Prelude)’ and started a tight and fabulous set with One For Sorrow, then straight on to a cracking Show Your Face.
A quick breather, some words of hello and an expression of joy of being back in Scotland to play. She then played the title track of The Art Of Losing. In intro-ing the next song, Unravel, she dedicated it to me. She has always been so very wonderful in giving me song dedications at gigs. It is such a beautiful thing and I am always humbled and awestruck when it happens.
Summerhall is a relatively small venue – well at least the Dissection Room where the gig took place seems to be of perhaps maybe 500/600 capacity? Acoustics are really good. Catherine’s sound levels were perfect. Her band for the tour are Leoni on guitar, Charlie Cawood on bass and Keir Adamson on drums. The drums were sounding absolutely fab! It all was. Her band are fantastic.
Although the set concentrated on tracks from The Art Of Losing, there was variety in the set. As well as One For Sorrow, Long Year from the ‘Confessions’ album was performed. An earlier single release that didn’t make the debut album, Once Upon A Lie was also performed. There were also stellar versions of This Is Yesterday and Bizarre Love Triangle from her aptly titled Versions album performed last night. There were also two new songs performed. One called (as of this moment – Catherine said last night when introducing the track that the title keeps changing) Damsels and the other titled All Fall Down. I particularly loved the sound of Damsels.
It really was the most wonderful gig. I didn’t record any video at all and took just a few quick snaps. I really wanted to submerge myself in the experience of the gig and just enjoy the moment. It had been a LOOONG wait. The last time I had seen Catherine perform solo was in June, 2018 when she supported Manic Street Preachers at the Festival Hall for Meltdown.
I am now positively counting the days until I get to see her again when she performs in London at the Union Chapel in Islington – the final date of this tour.
Tonight she plays Hull, then Leeds tomorrow night. Then a sell out show in Cardiff and then finally a show in Cambridge and the finale in London. You can book tickets through her website at iamtheanchoress.co.uk – you can also grab yourself a copy of the eco vinyl release of Versions but you’ll need to be quick as it is on a limited run of 1000 copies and is very nearly sold out! I’d also highly recommend Leoni Jane Kennedy’s music on her website: leonijanekennedy.com
One final note on the night. I bumped into Ian Rankin as I was leaving the venue. He asked me had I been at the gig and asked what I thought. I said it was fantastic. He complained it was too short. Lol. I asked him if he would be seeing any of Catherine’s other shows and he said, “Oh no. I’m not allowed to leave Edinburgh.” Lol. He’s a very dry wit! Then he and his friend beelined for the Royal Dick.
