Katherine Priddy brought her tour in support of her third album These Frightening Machines to a sold-out Stoller Hall. Playing to reverential silence punctuated by huge applause between songs she charmed the audience at her biggest Manchester show to date. Support came from Amelia Coburn.
Amelia Coburn opens up the evening, once some microphone issues are resolved that seem to at least break the ice between her and the audience. Her solo set might be stripped of her usual band accompaniment but it pares the songs right down to the bone of her voice and ukulele that seem perfectly suited for the crystal clear acoustics of the room that emphasise the vulnerability of the songs. Tales of tinder (Nodding Dog), her love-hate relationship with her own town of Middlesbrough (Sleepy Town) and her love for the dark gothic (Seesaw) and dreams (Something Wild) are much appreciated by an attentive crowd who’ve filled the beautiful space of Stoller Hall early. She finishes on Oh Captain Guide Me Home with the audience acting as her drummer cementing the bond she’s made.
It’s ten years since we first saw Katherine Priddy play the back room at Gullivers as part of the much-missed A Carefully Planned Festival. Much has changed in that time for the then recently graduated Katherine - three albums growing her reputation alongside high profile support slots with the likes of Suzanne Vega and the recent surge in support from 6 Music creating such a buzz about her that Stoller Hall sold out well in advance and there’s a real sense of anticipation in the room. Some things haven’t changed though - her Dad is in the room again (although this time probably not still watching bands at 2am in the basement of Soup Kitchen) and two songs about her love of Greek mythology (Eurydice and Icarus) remain in her set alongside set-closer Indigo.
Most of the set though comes from her most recent album These Frightning Machines and its (almost) title track opens the set. Accompanied by George Boomsma on guitar and Andrew Stuart-Buttle on keys and strings the songs have both the strength to fill this space yet retain the subtle intricacy that makes Priddy such an expert at capturing the emotional gravitas of her art.
A true raconteur she explains the stories behind each and every song, something that brings the audience in and creates a strong bond that goes beyond the undivided attention and absolute silence they give the songs. Another Greek mythology reference in Atlas is a metaphor for a friend she wrote it for carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. A Boat On The River she explains comes from her love of her native Birmingham’s canal network and wish to own a boat is one for her commitment issues she laughs. A Matter Of Time concerns the existential dread of turning thirty and choosing what she describes as the “scenic route” rather than job, mortgage, marriage, kids.
The album’s duets - I’m Always Willing and Madeleine - are performed with George and Amelia. The latter is a love letter to other female musicians going through the decade-long struggle for recognition that she has and it’s fitting that she invites Amelia to sing that with her. There's no shortage of self-deprecation and humour either. She precedes Letters From A Travelling Man with the story of her frequent disappearances from home in her younger years with men who her Mum described as "not having a fixed postcode."
As the set draws to an end she asks us if we should dispense with the encore ritual - the audience’s response is a resounding “yes”. Could This Be Enough?, These Frightening Machine’s final track, would be a fitting end, Katherine herself noting that she wanted the record to finish on a question mark. However the “encore” is reserved for Indigo, one of her earliest songs, and a reminder of how far she has come, the challenges she’s had to overcome as a solo female artist for much of the past decade, when the raw talent has always been there. Her well-earned success after years of struggle should act as inspiration for those who wish to tread the stages she's gracing today.
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