Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini treated Capetonians to two concerts last Wednesday and Thursday at the iconic and always beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens. Here are some shots from his first ever South African performance on Wednesday.
As always at Kirstenbosch, I’m amazed at how many people occupy the grassy hill and with the speed at which the place fills up – as soon as the gates opened the masses spilled in and the blankets and wine glasses were out in seconds.
Toya Delazy wasn’t the most obvious choice for opening act in my mind but she kicked things off with a lot of infectious energy and enthusiasm.
I confess, I didn’t know a lot about Paolo Nutini or his music before the show (I knew ‘Pencil full of lead‘ and ‘New Shoes‘…and only remembered that I also knew ‘Last Request‘ during its emotional acoustic rendition as the final encore) but I quickly gathered that he had a lot of female fans…one lady next to me saw me photo pit pass and tried to bribe me with wine so I’d take her backstage (though to her credit, she still offered me wine when I told her I couldn’t go backstage…).
The screams from the crowd were pretty intense when the slightly disheveled Scot wandered onto the stage; initially I wasn’t convinced, but it didn’t take long for me to get it. He’s a really solid performer and I thoroughly enjoyed the show.
I particularly liked that the tracks felt darker and had a bit more of a rock edge than their recorded counterparts, or, in the case of Last Request, were stripped right down to the basics. I’d always found the song pretty cheesy, but I have to say, watching it performed with just an acoustic guitar and a ton of emotion was pretty damn moving.
– – –
Shot for Texx and the City – read the review over here
Seed Experiences | Paolo Nutini | Toya Delazy
