Live Review: KT Tunstall – 23rd June 2025 – Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

After many years of craving to see Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall live, this ecstatic reviewer finally got to tick a major concert bucket list item off his list last night. Having missed every show by pure tragic coincidence of either being at another show on the same night, travelling or some other obstacle getting in my way, last night it was my time to personally experience KT in all her live glory. And what a show to be at!

Celebrating one major milestone wasn’t enough for the Suddenly I See hitmaker as the renowned musician filled the prestigious Royal Albert Hall to the rafters with passionate fans to welcome the 20th anniversary of her debut album, Eye to the Telescope. On top of this was a star studded, sequin dressed, 80’s karaoke filled night of festivities for her 50th birthday which fell on the day of the show.

Tunstall told fans last night of her tradition of performing with friends in a local pub each year, and that her gift from friends was a karaoke song dedicated to her. Last night the singer brought that party to the world-famous Royal Albert Hall and welcomed over 5000 eager fans along for the ride as she performed a lengthy double set that started from 19.30 and ran close to the venues 11pm curfew and included quite the platter of A-list guest appearances.

Dressed in a glittery, rainbow coloured metallic dress and black military boots, Tunstall emerged on stage with her talented backing band who wore equally eye-catching outfits to match the theme of the birthday girl as they dove straight into the singers debut album, Eye To The Telescope and played through the records original tracklisting order, opening with Other Side of the World.

As a seasoned performer, Tunstall is a master of the stage. A performer who radiates warmth for her followers and a deep passion for performing, between songs she would be frequent in her exchanges with fans that would shout out “I love you’s”, offering high fives to security on both sides of the stage and even pulling a solo female Australian fan on stage before placing her in a vacant seat in the front row of the venue to enjoy the rest of the show. The 3 ½ hour show last night was full of Tunstall’s quirky humour – even confessing to the possibility of being cancelled for telling the story of being in Australia and having a request from a fan to play her mother’s favourite song. She went on to explain to the crowd that this particular mother was a casualty of “death by shark” before delivering a stunning rendition of Under The Weather to the crowd who chuckled to the dark humour of the anecdote.

Telling the audience that it like it should be the end of the show by performing the next number but that the first half of the set had to be in order of the debut album, Tunstall’s mega-hit, Suddenly I See had the audience up on their feet and dancing along to the gritty instrumentation and KT’s distinctive, pitch-perfect vocals. Drawing attention to the crowd’s reaction to the hit, she told the crowd, “I’m glad a didn’t get famous on a depressing song”.

Stories of her recording her debut record were also shared by friends and personnel of her recordings over the years including Steve Osborne and Martin Terefe being welcomed on stage to recount moments during the singers career and then joining her to play through False Alarm on bass and piano respectively. Former baking singer Marty Philip also joined Tunstall for a memorable offering of Stoppin’ the Love. These moments during the first half of the show allowed fans a behind the scenes trip back in time as her guests spoke of Tunstall’s growth as a performer and finding confidence in her songwriting skills during the recording of her debut album and the records that have followed.

A nod to her late physicist father and her mother who was in the crowd last night was also a touching moment as Tunstall traded in her acoustic guitar to sit at the piano for her performances of the gorgeous Through the Dark. Her adoration and appreciation for her parents and her upbringing also came through ahead of her performance of the number as she told the crowd “12 years of piano and one song”, highlighting the fact that despite the training her parents had supported her with as a child, her primary instrument ended up being the guitar. She told us memories of her father taking her to visit a telescope in St Andrews as a child and these cherished times led her to record the previously unreleased song, Eye to the Telescope in the same location – a treat alongside two other new recordings that will be included on an October reissue of the collection.

Closing the first set of the night, national treasure and music icon Jools Holland appeared on stage to deliver – in true Jools Holland style – the introduction that he described as how he would introduce KT 20 years ago had he the hindsight of her future success, with mentions of many of the singer-songwriters accomplishments including hit records, touring and writing for the West End stage show of Clueless – which stars Emma Flynn who Tunstall performed ETTT number, Heal Over earlier in the night. This lead to Tunstall delivering a spectacular mash up of album track Black Horse and the Cherry Tree with meaty covers of Black Betty, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Seven Nation Army while Holland tinkered away on the grand piano behind her.

Closing the first set, KT encouraged people to soon return in their wigs for the second half of the night where many surprises would be revealed, but I don’t think anyone could quite expect what was to follow.

Turning things up several notches and following a grand announcement by fellow Scot Craig Ferguson, the birthday girl leapt on stage wearing head to toe silver and an impressive 80’s style wig to perform a cover of Van Hallen’s Jump – complete with hilarious scissor jumps and mini leaps from parts of the stage. From this moment we knew that the rest of the night was all about cheeky fun! She then welcomed on stage pop icon and Spice Girl, Mel C for the first of many iconic collaborations. The long-time friends offered the audience fantastic performances of Mel C’s collaborative hit with Bryan Adams, When Your Gone – with Tunstall sporting a denim jacket so she could “feel more like Bryan” in the moment while Mel referred to her look being more like Tina Turner. This was the followed by a hilarious cover of Dirty Dancing hit, Time Of My Life with Mel adding a few choruses of Spice Girls hit Stop at the end, complete with the songs famous choreography.

More collaborations followed with Natalie Imbruglia joining Tunstall on Imbruglia hit Torn, which Tunstall described as being “up there in the heavenly goddess section” of her favourite songs, as well as a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s I Need A Hero.

Clueless leading lady Emma Flynn returned on stage in her trademark Cher Horowitz yellow plaid inspired outfit to perform Clueless – the title track of the new stage musical based on the film in which Tunstall wrote the score.

80’s earmworm icon Rick Astley then accompanied the star on stage to perform his hit, Never Gonna Give You Up with Tunstall, but not before all of her celebrity guest stars emerged from the side of the stage with a giant birthday cake and the whole venue roared Happy Birthday to the singer who took handfuls of cake and threw it out to the crowd. Astley then showed off his drumming talents as the pair offered a punchy cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell.

After a solo cover of Simple Minds hit, Don’t You (Forget About Me), the energetic superstar closed the night by welcoming on stage rock icon and The Who frontman Roger Daltry to perform a cover of The Who hit, Won’t Get Fooled Again – the pair frequently holding hands or locked in embrace as Tunstall smiled from ear to ear during the impressive performance with one of the biggest icons in music performing alongside her.

It was a night full of some of the most exquisite songwriting, talented instrumentation and A-list collaborations on a scale we have not seen in a venue in a very long time and all for one of the most genuinely down to earth, humble and beautiful performers the UK has offered the world. It was  a truly special evening and we are so grateful to have been a part of such a spectacular celebration.

Setlist 1: Eye To The Telescope
Other Side of the World
Another Place to Fall
Under the Weather
Miniature Disasters
Silent Sea
Universe & U
False Alarm (with Steve Osborne) (and Martin Terefe)
Suddenly I See
Stoppin’ the Love (with Marty Philip)
Heal Over (with Emma Flynn)
Through the Dark (KT on piano)
Eye to the Telescope (Live debut)
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree / Black Betty / Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) / Seven Nation Army (with Jools Holland) (Introduced by Jools Holland)

Setlist 2: KT’s 50th Birthday Party
Jump (Van Halen cover)
When You’re Gone (Bryan Adams & Melanie C cover) (with Melanie C)
(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life / Stop (Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes cover) (with Melanie C)
Clueless (with Emma Flynn)
Torn (with Natalie Imbruglia)
Holding Out for a Hero (Bonnie Tyler cover) (with Natalie Imbruglia)
Happy Birthday to You (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill cover) (with Ensemble) (sung For KT’s 50th birthday)
Never Gonna Give You Up (with Rick Astley)
Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover) (with Rick Astley)
Don’t You (Forget About Me) (Simple Minds cover)
Won’t Get Fooled Again (The Who cover) (with Roger Daltrey)

Brendon Veevers

::: 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.