Gig Report: Joanne Shaw Taylor w/ Connor Selby @ Royal Northern College of Music 17/02/24

Another rainy night in Manchester, another great night of music. I don’t those things exclusively go hand in hand but it does always seem to be the case. Anyway, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to see the blues maestro, Joanne Shaw Taylor. I think the last time I saw her perform a headline set was in this very venue right after her fourth album, The Dirty Truth. I’ve spoken about Joanne at length on other websites but never on my own blog. So this has been overdue. I remember first discovering her with her first record, White Sugar. Between 2010 - 2015, I saw her live in concert five times. This show made for six. She’s been one of my favourite artists since that first album and I have kept up to date with all of her releases up to now. So, with her new album Heavy Soul on the horizon and this show being on a Saturday night in Manchester, it felt like the stars had aligned for me to attend another show! 

The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester is such a wonderful venue. It really has a gold star in my opinion. The sound travels so well and the stage is so open. The lighting is fabulous and the seats are actually comfortable. Being a theatre in the UK, that’s actually pretty rare. Anytime I’ve been to a concert in here it’s always been an amazing experience. It just feels like something special happens to the performers that grace this stage. 

On stage first was young blues dynamo, Connor Selby. This was a stripped back and reserved set. Just Connor, a hollow-body Gibson guitar and his soulful voice. All of his raw songwriting on display and it was really captivating to watch. Even the people still trying to get to their seats couldn’t take the energy out of the theatre. The entire set was a carefully calculated and delightfully soulful. Selby has such a wonderful voice, there's so much sincerity in his inflections that make you pay attention and care about the words. Matching his vocals, he’s equally as talented on the guitar. There are just moments of his set were you can really appreciate the talent and skill as he moved from riff, to lick, to solo. 

It’s clear that Connor has such an appreciation and respect for the genre. The way he plays the guitar and the way he sings you can really tell that he loves playing blues music. When he plays the solos you can see him getting lost in the music. The way his fingers move up and down the frets, it reminds me of a teenager just playing the guitar in their room and finally understanding how the notes can be merged together to make music, but you know dialed up to a professional level. I think the song where you really got a sense for this is “Love Letter To The Blues”. It was impressive just how much he felt at home on the stage. Which must have been daunting being by himself. I was overall very impressed. Having no idea of his music before this night, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. 

After a short break, it was time for the main even. Joanne Shaw Taylor took to the stage. My god it felt familiar and new all at the same time. It was like seeing an old friend that I haven’t seen in long time. So much feeling and emotion boiled down in to one set. Joanne is just one of those artists who can capture so many emotions in one night with music that delivers a well powered punch. Now, like I said, I have not seen her perform in a while so there are a lot of songs that I have never heard live. So this was almost like seeing her live for the first time all over again. Sure there was the odd track that was a familiar tune from over 10 years ago. I’m looking at you “Watch ‘Em’ Burn” & “Diamonds in the Dirt”. However, the majority of the setlist was filled with tracks from Wild (2016), Reckless Heart (2019), The Blues Album (2021) and Nobody’s Fool (2022). 

I don’t think I can properly describe how Joanne plays a show. I’ll give it a go though. Joanne has such a great command of the stage. She uses the space so effectively, semi-dancing with the guitar and her vocals reaching the rafters. The way she navigates around the setlist is excellent either flowing one song into the next or, if a break is needed, she is able to fill the time with typical British banter. You can tell at heart she’s still that same artist that played the bars and nightclubs years before. She has such a confident presence on the stage, the way she interacts with the crowd it’s almost like a stand-up comedy act, it was conversational. There were only a few moments of awkward silence, which Joanne was able to break and keep the show entertaining. I think that the difference between a theatre and a bar. In a bar there would be more hooting, hollering and crowd banter. Whereas a theatre, I think there is more of a professional vibe to the evening. Then when the music plays at full blast, I was blown away. Like I’ve always been. Each member of the band played their part to perfection. The bass and drums laying that foundation for the guitars and keys to just go wild. 

I was having an absolute blast for sure! From the blues riffs to the well-executed solos, this show was wall-to-wall packed with content. Songs like “Dyin’ To Know” and “Won’t Be Fooled Again” were welcome additions to the set as the in these live versions, Joanne can just go wild and really amp up the solos. She just has this ability to really get into the zone and you can visibly see her getting lost in her music, whilst also being very playful with her stage presence. I’m also so impressed with how she can switch it up from that typical sarcastic Brit tone to complete and utter sincerity. When she was introducing this song I could tell that the waterworks were coming, for me. The song “Fade Away” played and man, this song hits such an emotional heartstring for me and I’m sure it does for a lot of people. Silence fell of this track and a magical atmosphere filled the theatre. Joanne’s vocals soared so high on this one and I’m so glad I’ve now heard this one live.

Of course, like I said before, she has a new album to promote and this tour offered us a listen to a couple of new songs “Wild Love” and “Sweet Little Lies”. I think these songs fit into her set quite nicely. All of which is exciting and I’m certainly looking forward to the new album. Yet, it was clear that Joanne was more excited to just play this tour and have fun with the crowds. She didn’t remember the date of the release. By the way, that’s fine and made for a funny moment of the set. It’s nice that Joanne doesn’t take herself too seriously. She very much just played this very cool. 

What an absolutely excellent show. This was one I was very excited for and I’m happy that it delivered. Joanne Shaw Taylor has certainly not lost that spark that I first fell in love with all those years ago. She plays with such vigour and passion and that oozes from her guitar to the audience. She can truly make her guitar sing! It was nice checking in and I hope this isn’t the last time (I’m sure it won’t be).

Words by Mick Birchall

Photo Credit to Philip Goddard

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