Gig review: Nanci Griffith, Queens Hall

Published on Monday 8 February 2010 10:16

SIMPLICITY is a much underrated quality in music but it's what Nanci Griffith specialises in. Her simple tales of simple people, simply sung, have a power to lift the audience and a warmth and intelligence that many over-produced pop warblers can only dream of having and members of last night's packed crowd at the Queens Hall were more than happy to let her transport them to her uncomplicated world.

• Nanci Griffith

Those who were so impolite as to skip the support act missed a treat as the charming, chatty Edwina Hayes showed talent to spare. Her set of self-penned tunes and well-chosen covers provided the perfect springboard for the main act.

Griffith wasted no time in giving the audience what they wanted; as soon as she took the stage she launched into two of her greatest hits, Speed of The Sound of Loneliness and karaoke bar favourite From a Distance, before taking the room on a musical journey through her 30-year back catalogue.

By her own admission Griffith had lost some of her spark in recent years, but with a little help from her friends – including Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue and a little bit of hope borrowed from Barack Obama – she was back on form and her new material slotted right in with the old familiar tunes.

Her hymn of praise to the new spirit in her country, Across America, and the title track from her album The Loving Kind showcased her songwriting at its best.

She has certainly not lost her ability to connect with her audience and Griffith's particular skill to move them seamlessly from tears with the haunting acapella version of The Road To Aberdeen and Where The Blue Bonnets Grow and then have them tapping toes and clapping hands on the honky tonk classic Tequila after Midnight showed a performer in full command of her gifts.

Ending the evening proper with the American folk classic The Hammer Song which, after several earlier failed attempts, finally managed to get the audience to sing along, she left the stage to rapturous applause which didn't end until she returned for the first of her two encores.

She gave the audience two cover versions for her first return, Buddy Holly's Well Alright and Rolling Stones hit No Expectations, and had she left on this high it might have still been a great night.

But the crowd were having none of it and managed to get her on for one last high as she sang, in a voice cracking with emotion, her classic The Wing and The Wheel.

Whatever drained the passion from her over the last few years had clearly gone and Griffith was reborn and ready to entertain and illuminate with her mix of simplicity, passion and charm. It was clear that as far as the Queens Hall crowd was concerned, she'd been away far too long.

'I won't see anything better this year'

Carolyn McKenzie, 39, receptionist, Currie: "I've been listening to Nanci for over twenty years now but have never been able to see her live and to be able to see her so close up and in such and stripped down, intimate setting is wonderful. I was a little worried that after hitting the high with From a Distance she would have no were to go but I was forgetting just what a great back catalogue she has and her new material was wonderful as well. She's got such astage presence and her voice is as powerful and passionate as ever. I doubt if I'll see anything better this year."

Marion Coulter, 54, sales assistant, Gorgie: "I'm so glad I managed to get a ticket for this show it was just a wonderful night and it seemed to get better and better as each song was sung. I've seen Nanci a couple of times over the years and usually with a full band but there was something special about seeing her with just the two musicians that really connected you to the heart of the music."