The third week of King Tut’s New Year Revolution 2023 ended with four very talented young solo artists all turning out very impressive performances.
Katie Nicoll kicked off proceedings, bringing her band down from Dundee. Katie’s set was full of indie boppers about Mean Girls characters, friend’s ex-boyfriends and metaphors about lemons. There’s also a quite spectacular mix up of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’ and Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody.’ Katie’s skill as both a singer a songwriter are evident throughout her performance but no more so than when her backing band briefly stepped off stage for Katie to perform her love letter to Glasgow with her track named after the city. It’s a beautiful track that will resonate with so many people who are not native to Glasgow but love the city like their own, myself included. She makes it look easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Eve Davidson was up next, taking to the stage armed only with her guitar and her quite spectacular voice. The Fife based singer-songwriter performed tracks from her debut EP ‘Ghosts’ which was released in March of last year. Before performing the title track from that EP, Eve, dressed entirely in black explained that if the crowd hadn’t quite worked it out yet, she’s a ‘bit of a goth.’ Gothic dress sense aside, Eve didn’t stop smiling throughout her set and was clearly loving every moment on stage. There were also a couple of covers thrown into her set, Paolo Nutini’s ‘Iron Sky’ was excellent but Eve’s cover of ‘Ship to Wreck’ by Florence + the Machine was another level. If you hadn’t seen Eve up on stage, you might have thought Florence Welch herself was in the room.
Brooke Gallacher of Motherwell brought something different with a set full of emotionally driven piano ballads. I think it’s fair to say that it wasn’t the most upbeat of performances, Brooke herself introduced one song as her ‘attempt to write a love song but just ended up sounding depressing’ but every song had its own identity and felt fresh. Tracks like ‘wish we never kissed’ and ‘mine’ showcase just how incredible Brooke is as a songwriter. Much of her lyrics are based around teenage love, relationships and heartache. Very vulnerable subjects but Brooke unapologetically lays it all out there for all to see. Her lyrics may be her most powerful tool but her voice is as good as any you’re likely to hear. You can catch Brooke live in Glasgow again on the 5th March at Ivory Blacks.
Robin Ashcroft brought the show to a close in what was, quite simply, an unbelievable performance. There’s that old cliché that goes ‘I don’t know what ‘it’ is but they’ve got it.’ Robin absolutely has it. Her style, her stage presence and her attitude, it’s all just so well put together, producing this natural born performer. But of course, it takes more than just looking the part and Robin possesses one of the best singing voices I’ve heard in recent years. I also admire the boldness to open with ‘I LUV U’ her only track on mainstream streaming platforms. There’s always a risk opening with your biggest track. Although myself, and I’m sure many others in the crowd, were unfamiliar with the rest of Robin’s set, it’s clear she has the songs that merit her position as headliner. Hopefully we’ll see more official releases from Robin in 2023. If you have the opportunity to catch her live, I cannot recommend her any higher. You will be absolutely blown away.
