Nerina Pallot returned to the National Centre for Early Music in York for the last date of her UK tour, and she brought along friends of York Calling T.I.G.Y. in support.
By Graeme Smith
It’s been about a year since Nerina Pallot last played the NCEM and, as she confessed on stage, she loves York and the venue. It does seem to suit her style, delicate, ethereal and with enough power in her lungs to fill the ample space of the former church.
And the same could said about openers T.I.G.Y. I’ve covered plenty of their recorded music this year, but live they were so much more special. Singer Bailey Tzuke’s voice is all the more enchanting live, and she was ably accompanied by Matthew Racher on the keys. Joining Nerina on tour will no doubt win them a fair few more fans. Keep an eye out for them.
Nerina herself was her at her charming best. This tour is in support of her new album I Don’t Know What I’m Doing, so most of her set was from the album. The title track proved to be a witty highlight, as was the darkly vibrant Cold Places, a track we’ve also featured on this blog.
She introduced most of her tracks with an anecdote and that’s perhaps the charm of seeing her live. Her stories have an, ahem, meandering style but you can’t help but hang on every word of them. We learnt about her mother, the school run, and how tuning her guitar in front of an audience is like using a public cubicle.
There were some treats from the early years too, including that song – Everybody’s Gone To War. She said on stage that she doesn’t always play it, only when she feels like it, but she said that last year too. Personally, I think she should always play it because it’s such a wonderfully written song. Her encore featured her rendition of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, recently boosted by its appearance in the BBC’s Normal People.
On stage, Nerina seems humbled that she’s still playing and audiences are still turning out for her after twenty years but she shouldn’t be. She has an effervescent style and songs that are as relatable as they are poetic. She can keep playing as long as she likes based on last night’s evidence.
T.I.G.Y. and Nerina Pallot played at The National Centre for Early Music, York on Friday 21 October 2022.
