KT Tunstall makes up for lost time at The Imperial

KT Tunstall makes up for lost time at Imperial
written by Scotty Evil

Rescheduling didn’t keep her fans away.

Making up for a date she had to cancel last October, Scottish rocker and loop wizard KT Tunstall made sure her fans were happy.

The night opened with singer/songwriter Doe Paoro. With the focus mainly on her new album, “Soft Power”, the performance was kept stripped down and intimate. She did a great job of drawing the audience in; during the quietest parts you could have heard a pin drop. She was visually pleased with the crowd; “Usually there are like 20 people for the opener, you guys are great!”

By contrast, KT Tunstall came bouncing out on stage, arms raised to greet her cheering fans, many of whom have followed her around for multiple shows since her career began. And going back that far, the first song was “Miniature Disasters”.

A drummer was supposed to accompany her performances here but got hung up due to the usual visa issues. “I’ve forgotten how to do some things by myself” she quipped.

And there was plenty of witty banter between tunes…she has a second career available as a comedienne if she hangs up the loop pedal. The crowd was laughing heartily to her anecdotes, especially her professed love of Canada and it’s “massiveness”, apparently a second home for reformed Scots. She also expressed the fact this was her 8th show in Vancouver.

She explained the rescheduling of her show as it was due to her losing all the hearing in one ear, making her dizzy and just plain feeling unpleasant…but now she has gotten used to it (it hasn’t returned). “We love you KT!” rang out from the audience several times.

“Thank you audience lady!”

She explained the origin of one song, “Red Thread” in how she saw invisible connections between people and as they moved around they world the connections get tangled up.

She also got us laughing about how her big hit “Black Horse” has some similarities to George Michael’s “Faith” and despite not finding that song to sing at a karaoke night that her friend found HER song (which she of course got up and sang).

For one person on a big stage, her huge personality filled the room. Everyone sang along to “Feel it All” and there was also a mash-up which included “Walk Like an Egyptian”.

The encore included another sing-along in the form of a Tom Petty cover, “I Won’t Back Down”. KT ended the night with the upbeat “Suddenly I See”.

Suddenly I hope to see her again, or her comedy show. Either or both would be brilliant.