Live Review: Caro Emerald – 29th April 2017 – Roundhouse – London, UK
4 min read
Taking in cities around Europe as part of her Emerald Island tour, Dutch songbird Caro Emerald dished up seconds to London fans over the weekend with an additional date in the capital. Following a successful performance at the elegant Royal Albert Hall earlier in the month before taking the show around the country, Emerald returned to London on Saturday for round two; this time within the industrial confines of Camden’s famous performance space, the Roundhouse.
Supported by a male backing band of 8, Emerald delivered a stunning set of hits for fans from both of her studio albums – 2010’s groundbreaking Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor and 2013’s UK number one album, The Shocking Miss Emerald – along with her brand new EP, Emerald Island, being the feature release of this latest trek around Europe.
Showing of her baby bump in a figure hugging back dress and colourful island themed bomber jacket, Emerald looked every bit the sensual Jazz siren as was stepped out to a roaring applause.
Hits from Delete Scene’s From the Cutting Room Floor were those that garnished the singer with the biggest reactions from her audience; opener Riviera Life with its sweet island dressing and her most well known toe-tapper, Back It Up, were surprises early on in the set while Just One Dance and the infectious That Man allowed her band to shine as they provided Emerald with a full and vibrant instrumentation.
Personal favourite Stuck and Dr Wanna Do with its quirky structure and playful sound effects had the crowd, including those seated on the upper level of the venue, up on there feet and bopping along with the songstress and her animated band while the singer opted for a quick costume change during one of 2 band instrumentals, returning in a sparkly green sequined jacket and large flower perched in her hair to perform the deep and sultry almost Bond-esque ballad, Tahitian Skies – the opening number from her latest Emerald Island EP. The track was one of a handful of songs from the new EP that featured throughout the performance alongside Never Ever and rock-tinged new single, Whatchugot which was used to close the show.
Second album The Shocking Miss Emerald was also given a nod with memorable performances of Tangled Up featuring early on in the set and The Maestro showcasing the bands saxophonist who interjected the number with a meaty sax solo and saw Emerald recording her own backing vocals on stage with the help of some modern technology while her band remained a constant musical pillar of support for the star; a horn section, keyboards, percussionist, guitars, drums and double bass player all working in perfect harmony with the lead lady of the night. Emerald was also proud to show off the talents of her band with moments given to each band member at various points in the set to exercise their instrumental skills.
While her signature Jazz and island style drenched the performance of most songs within the set, tracks like The Ghost Of You and Quicksand offered slightly contrasting styles with both numbers carrying rich Americana influences courtesy of her lead guitarists steel string guitar echoing within the venue but it was easily Deleted Scenes single A Night Like This and The Shocking Miss Emerald’s Liquid Lunch that got the crowd working up a sweat with their swing dancing and delivered the musician with well deserved standing ovations.
With the tour about to draw to a close, those who attended one of the shows were gifted with a memorable performance by one of music’s finest breakthrough artists of the last decade. With a celebrated songbook of Jazz and electro-swing hits, Emerald’s Roundhouse spectacle was quite simply, stunning.
Setlist:
Riviera Life
Back It Up
Tangled Up
The Maestro
Stuck
Dr. Wanna Do
Instrumental
Tahitian Skies
The Ghost of You
Quicksand
Instrumental
Never Ever
Absolutely Me
You Don’t Love Me
Just One Dance
Liquid Lunch
That Man
Encore:
Nature Boy (Nat King Cole cover)
A Night Like This
Whatchugot
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
