GRETCHEN PETERS
Nottingham 5 April 2012

This was my first visit to Nottingham’s Glee Club, and thanks to an early start, by the time the Strange Things team arrived, all the seating was taken (and yes, this is a gig where the audience stayed firmly in their seats) – an impressive testament to Gretchen Peters’ popularity, though an inconvenience if you fancied taking the weight off your feet. And if the venue sometimes felt a little incongruous (having the word ‘glee’ in huge letters at the back of the stage while the performer is singing heartfelt, darkly emotional songs just seems wrong!), there was no faulting the sound, the atmosphere or the performances.

At the start of the show, Peters announced that she would be playing the whole of her excellent new album Hello Cruel World from start to finish. “Wow”, I thought, “like classic Pink Floyd”, and indeed it was. I’ve often wondered about acts who tour new albums and then only play a part of it live – surely if a song is good enough for the album, it’s good enough to play live, and taking a carefully constructed LP and then breaking it up into chunks, interspersed with older crowd pleasers, often seems to be missing the point. So it was good to hear the album performed as one piece, especially as – while not a concept album – it’s definitely something that works best as a whole.

Back by a two-piece band of Christine Bougie and husband Barry Walsh, Peters manages to create a sound that is surprisingly big, yet very intimate. The lack of a rhythm section is occasionally noticeable, especially on more upbeat numbers like Woman on the Wheel, but generally this stripped-back line-up creates an impressively full sound, fleshing out the songs on the album.

What could’ve been a rather depressing selection of songs was livened by Peter’s natural charm, self-deprecating humour and connection with the audience, who clearly adored her. Given that this gig took place in quite an open space, the show felt surprisingly intimate. You could hear a pin drop during the songs (apart from the constant rattle of glasses behind the bar near to where I was stood) and the songs on the album took on a new intimacy and passion live.

After the new stuff was done, Peters played selection of older tunes, winding the show and indeed the European tour – up with a plaintive, powerful cover of the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses (joined by support act Lisbee Stainton). A powerful finale to an excellent performance.

DAVID FLINT