Sounds like it was a great gig in Belfast----- really looking forward to tonight ----- I also may have a spare ticket seat is in stalls in row b if anyone is interested :-/

That's the first time I've seen her in the North but in Dublin in June people only stood up when the encore was over. I think it's just a weird vibe a seated gig. Any other time I've seen her it's been standing. Which I totally prefer btw. I feel so awkward just sitting there watching her
(EDIT: actually now that I think about it I honestly can't remember if they stood up before the encore in Dublin or not )

But the applause for the encore was VERY loud/excited I thought. It was just weird to be seated in the first place.

Encore spoiler ahead for anyone who wants to be surprised
It was verrrrry weird when for the second song of the encore she did Suddenly I See and asked the crowd to stand up half way through (they wouldn't have without being asked), then she played Chimes and everyone sat down again.

Set list from memory. Order may not be 100% correct

Invisible Empire, Old Man Song, Carried, White Bird, Under the Weather, Still a Weirdo, Yellow Flower, Through the Dark, Black Horse/7 Nation Army, Alchemy, Golden Frames, Feel It All, Default, Made of Glass

Crescent Moon, Suddenly I See, Chimes

Yep, Billy Lockett

Just back from the Olympia - absolutely cracking gig - KT played and sang beautifully - some very funny moments too - just what you'd expect from her ...she should really record one of these shows for a dvd release as it really exposes her talent in a way a backing band could never do.

I was a little disappointed that she wasn't able to meet and greet after the show, but all those waiting were given a signed pic which was a nice touch.

Would love to go to Galway but alas, it's back to normal life now...until next time KT...thanks for another great night ;)

Well, I'm in Galway a few hours before KT takes the stage. Chalkey and Eimear, maybe you could add a few of the funny things which happened last night. KT definitely was "on" with her brand of humor.

I won't have a chance to write down my random thoughts about Dublin or Galway until the flight home tomorrow.

Here's some funny moments - thought I'd better write them down before I forget them

Immediately after Invisible Empire she spoke about the promo video she made for the track. She said that the inspiration behind it was simply that she could indulge in a "Game of Thrones" theme, of which she is apparently a big fan. I think she mentioned that along the way she met someone involved in the actual GOT series, expressed her admiration of it to them and by all accounts she is waiting to here back from them about a possible, but probably unlikely, casting (tongue firmly in cheek here methinks). She went on to say that recently she has been struck by the number of times that images of Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol), who has actually appeared in the program, has been stalking her recently, as if rubbing KT's nose in that fact that he has been on the show and she hasnt. A very funny moment from early in the show and from then on she had the audience in the palm of her hand!

At one point, she expressed her love for the Olympia Theatre, describing it as one of her favourite venues in the world. The venue was built in the 1800's and is of classical design with side balconies/boxes reminiscent of those which featured the two old grumpy men from The Muppet Show. KT promised that if she ever played here again she would hire two old men to sit in one of the balconies, dressed in tuxedos, and howl abuse and/or compliments at her at various stages in the show. Now that is a gig that I would love to see!

During Miniature Disasters (first time played in 3 years apparently) she forgot some lyrics, but her ability to cover this up in her own unique, self-deprecating manner, ensured that the audience got behind her even more.

She also had to stop during the Black Horse when she "lost the crowd" while recording the samples during the intro...suffice to say, she recovered with flying colours.

Probably the funniest part was when between two songs, a few members of the audience let out some "whoops" which KT likened to the police car sirens in the US. She went on to compare the "nee-naaahs" of the UK/European sirens to the US sirens - just the kind of random thoughts you'd expect to get at one of her shows. Anyway, before moving on to the next track, she requested that all the audience "whoop" in unison a la US cop car sirens, and we all duly obliged

I know there were other funny moments, which I can't recall now (oh she thanked everyone for not going to see Billy Joel - also playing in Dublin that night - while impersonating his accent in a line or two of "Just the Way You are") but I think it's the most relaxed I've seen her. I would gladly sit and listen to this style of show all night - she truly is remarkable. Oh to be in Galway right now - she's probably taking to the stage right now!

I probably should've done when it was fresher in my head ^ She didn't play miniature disasters in Belfast, gutted! I always loved it live. I wonder if she met anyone after Belfast? I didn't hang around to see.

She did warn that it could be completely sh*t (which of course it wasn't) because it was the first night of the tour. She messed up during Yellow Flower, came to a stop for a second and said something about it being the first night then carried on

She had a Halloween joke, let's see if I can remember it well enough to do it justice.

This man wanted to go out for Halloween and he wanted to wear his scary pointy shoes so he looked in the wardrobe for them. There they were at the back of the wardrobe but there was a witch standing in them. So he said to the witch "what are you doing with my scary pointy shoes?" and she said....

























"Narnia business"

Well it went something like that. The punchline's the important bit anyway

^ Very clever!

Bravo reviews of the Dublin show.

I'll get to my random thoughts sometime soon. I'm sitting next to a very interesting and talkative person on my flight so KT thoughts must wait. No offense to KT, of course.

Ok, my seatmate has fallen asleep.

So back to the Ting Ting’s song, “That’s Not My Name.” I figured the song may have a video so I checked out YouTube. The video, which is fun but nothing special, has been watched more than, wait for it…30.6 million times…that’s million with an M! How could I have completely missed this song back in 2008? Oh, that’s right, I was busy spreading the word about KT!

Our friends did an awesome job reviewing KT’s Dublin gig so I’ll just say “ditto” to all of their comments.

Instead, you lucky readers get a short story and rant…

I had an extra ticket with about 20 minutes to go before KT would take the stage in Dublin. I looked around outside in front of the theater for anyone walking by themselves who paused to notice all of the activity at the front doors. No go; seriously, only couples we’re walking by. I have a great idea! I’ll go into the restaurant next door and give away the ticket to the manager to pass along to a deserving employee working this evening (maybe 15 employees total). The manager loved the idea and thanked me profusely. Fast forward to the show: no one ever sits in this seat…3rd row...3 seats from the center aisle. Even if the manager was in a selfish mood and quickly decided to sell the ticket for whatever he could get, someone should have been sitting in that seat! Is it really possible he couldn’t find one single human being to accept a free ticket to see KT live from the 3rd row?

So I’ve concluded that either we’re all delusional or KT’s long-time manager, Simon Banks, doesn’t deserve KT as a client. Even if 1) the show was crazy profitable (no backing band on this tour; just KT, her road manager, and a few crew); and even if 2) KT is satisfied with her level of exposure (if true, most unfortunate), so many more people across the globe would love AND download, purchase, pirate, whatever, KT’s music if they ever heard it AND could connect it, wait for it... to KT Tunstall. It’s a genuine loss for music fans everywhere and they don’t even know it. After multiple albums and a decade of touring, there’s no excuse for KT’s relatively dismal global market penetration.

I’ll even give KT an idea of what to say:

“Simon, you’re a terrific guy and I’ll always be in your debt; we’ve had so many great times together; but I’m really, really tired of people thinking Katy Perry when they hear my name. Sh*t, Simon, “Perry” isn’t even her real name!

“And I’m totally down with intimate venues as much as any artist; but a sterile general purpose room, complete with fluorescent tube lighting and cheap ceiling tiles, above a cheesy empty casino, with 100+ empty seats (again), doesn’t cut it. [Galway…on a Saturday night, no less]

“C’mon, Simon, at this point in our working together, should I really have to make an entrance from a 2nd story catwalk the entire length of the room in plain sight and hide behind floor speakers before taking the stage because there’s nowhere else to go? [yep, Galway again]

“Simon, you’re fired.”

Ok, I'm done.

Stay tuned for random thoughts about KT’s performance in Galway (other than a venue description).

Someone asked in a PM whether I'm intentionally being provocative. You bet! I want to hear what others have to say. Do you believe KT's manager is effective? Does it even matter if her fan base could be much larger? Am I imposing personal biases and expectations in a situation more complex than I understand?

Well I will say this album hasn't seem to have had as much of an impact as KT has had with other albums. The album is good and the fan base is there I think maybe she just doesn't seem to be being very well promoted this time around.

The venues not being sold out is strange, especially when they're not that big. Initially I had only bought a ticket for Liverpool as it was a Saturday, then when I realised there were 3 gigs in Ireland while I was on midterm break I checked and could've gotten a ticket for any of the 3.

I don't know if this was just me being paranoid while I was on my own but in Belfast I noticed it was an older crowd than usual. I know there are plenty of older fans, but normally at KT's gigs I'd see much more people my own age, like 20s to 30s anyway. I definitely felt there were much fewer people around my age, which is odd. Isn't it? Or is that just me....

Oh KT has a way with words doesn't she? I would love to see this


David, I totally agree with you on the management situation. As good as KT is, why isn't she selling out venues three times the size of the tiny little venues she played on this tour? Actually it wasn't just this tour. The Tiger Suit tour wasn't promoted much at all and the venues were even worse than this tour. KT definitely deserves better.

I'm not sure the buck entirely stops with the manager. There's usually booking agents, publicists and of course the label in the mix.
I think labels spend more to launch an artist, especially solo ones. Sure Kings of Leon got massive later into their career but that's down to them selling out rather than a PR push.