For those who were lucky enough to see Emilia Quinn play acoustically at C2C earlier this year, this tour was never going to arrive soon enough. That Emilia can front a rocking combo has never been in doubt, she does it with an almost effortless ease, but those are loud rowdy affairs, high on electric excitement, low on subtlety. That is not to say those shows don't have their little quieter acoustic moments, just that they are a little harder to appreciate and absorb. Tonight's show at The Green Note brought to us in association with Black Deer & TALENTBANQ would, as ever be pin drop quiet as the artists performed.
The support slot would be filled by John W Doyle, regularly found leading Emilia's full band, and as the evening would reveal, a talented singer songwriter himself. With the stage mainly lit by one large dim lightbulb, John would be good humoured with a wide range of material to impart. A large gent with a fulsome beard it's fair to say that as he opened his vocals on his opening tune "Run" his voice was perhaps a little softer than you might imagine, though that did not prevent him injecting volume later on in the song. A switch to a more bluesy style came with "Walk Away" with it's pained "Why Can't I just Walk Away" line. The set kept on giving, a delicately picked guitar on his song of rememberance was followed by a stunning cover of Orit Shimoni's "Wine Into Water" which ellicited a response of "Oh my God" on it's completion from behind us, such was the effect that it had. Played with good humour and heartfelt feeling John is definitely someone we should see mor eof as a solo artist.
Emilia's set would be career spanning, even stretching out to include a batch of songs likely to appear on her next album. Sporting her tinted shades, she was in a relaxed mood and fine voice, not phased in the slightest by a noisy cocktail shaker interrupting her opening monologue. She would be joined by John W returning to the stage to provide guitar and vocals.
Where else to start than the beginning of her career with the title track from the "Wrote Off" EP. Later in the evening Emilia would regale the crowd about this EP coming out just after her first Buckle & Boots appearance, it holds a special place for #TEAMw21 who the first to hear it, even at that early stage seeing that this would be a special performer. Five years on, the singing has naturally improved, warmer and stronger, the words tonight somehow seeming more vivid. John's additional vocals at key points also added to the overall sound and in an early demonstration of stage craft the final lyrics were just left hanging in the air. The twin acoustic guitars would prove that they could still make some noise if required for "On The Run" the rootsy rocker from "Wanderlust & Breaking Rules"
Over the years one of Emilia's traits has been a lack of fear in going back to her earlier songs, revisiting and remolding them into new versions. Few would have guessed, that the ballad with the gentlest of almost Spanish guitar intros, would give way to an almost Winehouse jazzy delivery - but when in Camden what else would you do? It would become "Outlaw", always a rawkus crowd pleaser at an electric show, It retained that extended "I Want Your Love" line at the end of the chorus delivered with some aplomb. It might have been interesting to have kept this pace for the duration, however from the second verse onward it would return to it's customary delivery speed, just a little easier to discern. The chorus would see the usual crowd participation and only having an acoustic would not stop John from throwing in a cracking solo .
It was soon time for the new material to come forth, "Without You", would display a new style of songwriting from Emilia writing using other peoples stories. Even in this stripped back format this had the sound of a big Nashville country hit, that one of the A listers would gladly take off Emilia's hands. John's playing perfectly accentuated the country elements, and Emilia's vocals were searing and equally imbued with the correct country sound. Another new song came in the fictional love triangle tale of "Does She Know?", which again sounded top notch even on first listen.
Emilia would literally show she had another string to her bow by changing instruments - not to her keyboard which didn't make this particular tour but to her cello! It would add a little elegance to the evening, "Pretty Pink Pills" being one of the songs to benefit, also boosted by Emilia's vocal delivery pitched perfectly for the song. It would transform and take the song to another level. Immediately it was straight into another promising unreleased song "Hell Is Not Me", John's guitar lines, joined by Emilia's cello including a solo was another Country classic in the making. For another new song "Take It All", Emilia would eschew all instruments to just concentrate on her vocals, which would powerfully sway and swirl around the tiny Green Note. These stripped back songs already had the feeling of big production numbers, added to the earlier songs, this made a powerful collection that really whetted the appetite already for the next album.
It was back to the debut EP for "Woman Like Me", with John's guitar temporarily transporting us to Mexico, offering us another chance to see just how far Emilia's presentation skills have developed. With flyers trailing a full band show in February for a single release show, we got an early preview of "High On Life". A complete opposite to the earlier tunes, this was a good time high paced rocker, with John adding some nifty fingered guitar work.
Not renown for her cover versions, Emilia would add in a rare and not easy one in the shape of Chris Stapleton's "Fire Away", which drew an excited "Yes" in anticipation from the back of the room. The result was a quality cover with Emilia leaving a little of herself on this version. even throwing in a bonus cover by segueing into Fleetwood Mac's "Silver Springs". It would see the Green Note become a blaze of waving mobile phone lights and it was nice to see John looking on smiling as Emilia was singing.
There was naturally time for an encore on this most impressive of nights, and "Nothing To Lose" perfectly fitted the bill with Emilia firing out it's signature "Through My Veins" line at full power. With room for one final acoustic guitar solo and a closing speeded up good time version - this was the perdect way to send us off into the wet streets of Camden Town.