O2 Academy, Sheffield | 11th February 2013, 8pm
I’ve wanted to see Paloma Faith live for months now although I’m still unsure when I became a fan of hers. I’ve known her music and who she was but never took the leap to buy all her albums or look for live tickets until I read during a night out at the O2 Academy, Sheffield, that she was coming – I knew I just had to go!
I frantically began listening to her two albums trying to know as many of her songs as I could before the show and it worked; I was now hooked on her music!
Monday 11th February 2013 arrived and myself and my best friend Tom stood outside the academy from 5:30pm to ensure we got a good standing position but neither of us could have expected to get where we did; second row, bang in the centre! We were shocked! Even after all the advance O2 customers had been sent into the academy, we still got such a good place to stand.
So the long wait for the show to start began. Why artists make you wait so long before they come on stage still confuses me but it raises the excitement levels inside I suppose.
Her support act, Josephine, was fantastic. I actually listened more to her album than Paloma’s after the show. She’s a mix between a soulful diva and gentle ballad:
Paloma arrived on stage almost bang on 9pm in her stunning gold dress she wore the previous night at the BAFTA awards. She assured us all she had got changed between the previous nights award ceremony and tonight joking: “I haven’t been out on the town and just stumbled in wearing last nights dress, promise.”
The show opened with her and two giant gold props by her face, looking stunning as she did on TV last night. From start to finish, Paloma took control of the stage and sung through both her first album and new. I knew she was a great vocalist but nothing prepared me for how truly stunning her voice was live. Talents like hers don’t come along often but when they do, they really do hit you hard live.
She created a great repore with her audience, joking, laughing and often swearing about stories from her life, the tour and experiences at the BAFTA’s.
Being so close, it almost felt like a personal performance in my lounge. This was more noticeable during ’30 Minute Love Affair’, a personal favourite of mine, we made eye contact and I sung back her lyrics, to her, at her show. It was a crazy moment but one that I will remember for a long time.
From both her band, to back vocalists, to the star herself, the entire tour had been thought about and created with one vision in mind: Paloma. It matched her albums and her look so well and never once seemed like a commercial exploit that some tours do.
My only regret, that her tour is over and I can’t got see her live again.
I’ve seen many tours before but this one will stay as very possibly my favourite!
William J.
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Paloma posted my first photo on her Facebook and Instagram pages hours after the show finished.
They have received over 1,600 ‘likes’ and counting.
I’m so pleased she selected mine out of the thousands she recieved from the gig to re-post.
Who knew using and iPhone 5 camera would be so effective?
Facebook.
Instagram.
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All photos by William J Connolly.
CentreStalls 
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