Basia Bulat returned to Manchester for the first time in nine years as she reaches the end of a three-week European tour. A sold-out Yes Basement was utterly charmed and captivated by songs taken from across her career right up to recent album Basia's Palace as she moved effortlessly from acoustic guitar to keys to autoharp and performing a solo encore on the ukulele.
Bryde opens the evening in the sweltering heat of the basement with a solo set of songs that touch on subjects like questionable relationship choices. Beautifully crafted songs, sung with a voice that accentuates the deep personal emotional connection to the lyrics, the Yes crowd listen in silence so much that you can hear the sound of a heavy breath behind you between the notes. She laughs off some feedback issues whenever she tilts to one side and issues with sticky hands because of pre-gig strawberries as if she's in a room playing to friends. And by the end of her half-hour set she's made us feel like that.
It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade since Basia played Manchester around the release of her last but one album Good Advice. This year's return Basia's Palace has been a long time coming as she's taken time out to have kids as well as of course the financially gruelling nature of touring making transatlantic ventures like this in these size of venues a leap of faith. She's genuinely delighted and a little surprised that there's a full room in front of her who've waited for this moment and she repays that in spades.
She moves between albums as frequently as she does between instruments, all six of them represented by at least one song, but the focus is heavily, as you'd expect on Basia's Palace, Good Advice and 2020's Are You In Love? She's accompanied by Woody on drums and Josh on bass and both perform backing vocals. The strong bond between the three of them forged on the road and in Basia's basement studio back home in Canada is very evident in the way the songs have a wonderful flow to them.
The different instruments allow us to hear a wide-range of style of songs. She explains that Disco Polo, as well as her colourful jump suit, is forged by her father's love of Polish disco music whilst her mother's folk and classical influences on her shine through across the set. Mid-set she strips everything back to just her and the auto-harp for Little Waltz and In The Night from her debut Oh My Darling after taking requests from the audience as well as Gold Rush, after fervently apologising for not playing all requests and suggesting another gig to do them all.
There's still songs though that could have made Basia a major star. Heart Of My Own still touches a nerve fifteen years on. Tall Tall Shadow is, as it always was, a song fit for the biggest rooms in town whilst Love At The End Of The World, released on the cusp of COVID, was robbed of its chance to do that. They're the perfect end to a set that builds slowly and takes us all with it on the journey as the best gigs do.
It's one of the quietest crowds we've witnessed for a long time, until of course the song finishes and then their adoration is made very clear, so much that Basia a few times looks very taken aback by it. They do find their voice though at the end of the set when Basia encourages them to sing the harmonies to Love Is At The End Of The World, first with her and then on our own.
Basia finishes with just her and the ukulele on stage for It Can't Be You and a huge beaming smile matched by those in front of her. It's impossible to dislike her and her energy and sheer joy at performing, doing what she loves most. Tonight's gig felt like being in on a secret that others should know all about. Hopefully it won't be another nine years before Basia returns to Manchester.
Basia Bulat played Are You In Love, Heart Of My Own, My Angel, Fool, Someday Soon, Infamous, Already Forgiven, Little Waltz, In The Night, Gold Rush, The Moon, Five Four, Disco Polo, Baby, Tall Tall Shadow, Love Is At The End Of The World and It Can't Be You
Basia Bulat's official site can be found here. She is also on Facebook and Twitter.
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