Arriving for the last song of Soham De, the first support of the night, you could feel there was something magical inside this particular Student’s Union, with the crowd absorbed in the music that was happening and this was just with the first act. Even with one song, Soham De charmed.
With a bit more of a soul sound, Katie London captured the audience in the same way and with an air of confidence surrounding her she was not short of conversation either, as she introduced each of her songs to this lively crowd.
Spirits were high with this varying age group all out to see Lucy Spraggan, as the lights went down the roar was electrifying and the crowd seemed to push a little closer together and a bit more closer. As the opening lines came from Spraggan, they were echoed back from the audience full of excitement. This pretty much sums up most of the night in terms of audience interaction. 98% of the audience could easily fill in for Spraggan if she forgot the words but there was definitely no shortage of that. Spraggan engaged with the audience with questions such as ‘is anyone single?’ while telling us about her recent marriage before delving into Butterflies. She also declared ‘it is weird that there are people ranging from the 70s to the noughties’ as she sings Grown Up, a song basically about how times have changed and that she’s ‘still someone’s kid but I want my own.’
Where there are laughs there are also serious moments as she tells us stories before singing Dear You (a song about mental health) and Tea And Toast. I must admit, although they can be irritating, seeing so many mobile phones held up recording Dear You (which was probably the quietest the crowd were) was actually a beautiful thing. A very touching singer-to-fan moment came with Uninspired, a song about her X Factor days, especially with the lyrics, “I forget the pain each time I hear you shout my name, you’re my favourite memories.” A personal touch to the Newcastle crowd is Last Night as she asked about the Toon’s drinking habits.
Spraggan’s live show definitely has it all – the laughs, the tears, the chats and the jokes and towards the end were some of the best sing-alongs ever witnessed. Unsinkable and Wait For Me, sang to a very lively Newcastle crowd singing back, was like the choir had come to town, and as the lights went up the crowd danced their way out into the night.
Words & Image by Victoria Ling
