Gig review: Nina Nesbitt, Liquid Room

Nina Nesbitt

Liquid Room, Victoria Street * * * * *

The teenage former Balerno High School pupil has been gathering heaps of column inches on these pages over the past year – and we make no apologies for that. It’s been a mighty long time since our fine city produced a bona fide pop idol, but that’s what we have in Nina Nesbitt.

For the past few months, the 18-year-old has been working on her debut album with super-producer Jake Gosling, who is well known for working with the likes of One Direction and Ed Sheeran.

The fruits of their studio labour will see the light of day later this year, by which time Nesbitt, who recently signed a £1 million deal with Universal, will be well on her way to chart domination.

Already, she has YouTube views running into the millions and a huge Twitter following of “Nessies” and “Nesbians”, a fair few for whom Saturday’s sold-out gig at Liquid Room seemed to be a night of nights.

First up on the bill, 19-year-old Italian-English singer Olivia Sebastianelli warmed up the early birds in attendance with a short but impressive set that brought to mind both Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry.

Next up were local lads Jakil – another group of former Balerno High School pupils – with their unique melodic indie rock tunes.

Predictably, there was a palpable sense of excitement all around the venue in the lead up to Nesbitt’s set, and, when the girl-of-the-moment eventually did take to the stage, the sell-out crowd went berserk.

The iTunes Singer/Songwriter New Artist of 2012 launched straight into an upbeat rendition of her early single Boy, the first of many numbers showcasing a songwriting talent that belies her tender years. Her voice, it has to be said, isn’t half bad either.

Other highlights included current single Stay Out, which was recently Radio One DJ Scott Mills’ Record of the Week, the double-entendre dripping 18 Candles and old favourite The Apple Tree.

By the time the blonde singer wrapped things up with a rousing cover of The Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), it was clear we had been witness to a superstar in the making.