Review: Paloma Faith, Wolverhampton Civic Hall,
[gallery] Entertainer, kooky style icon and soul singer, Paloma Faith has only released two albums but is already a firm favourite with the British public, as shown by a full house at the Civic Hall on Saturday night.
Clad in a 1940s-style black velvet dress, the songstress from Hackney began her 90 minute concert in elaborate pose holding huge Japanese-ish fans decorated with musical notes and piano keys.
The curtain parted to reveal a Palm Court set with gold and platinum foliage surrounding her five-piece band and three backing singers.
Her honey-coloured hair piled high, she opened with Let Your Love Walk In from her Brit-nominated second album Fall To Grace. That album's melancholy ballads dominated the set.
She was honest to tell the audience that she was bored with songs from debut album Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful, and relegated her breakthrough release to four songs.
One of them, the up-tempo Upside Down, got the most enthusiastic reaction of the night.
Other highlights included her cover of INXS song Never Tear Us Apart, which she has made her own, and the tender Just Be. Soul belter Something's Got A Hold On Me, originally by her hero Etta James, showed why Jools Holland rates Paloma so highly.
The diminutive dynamic diva climbed on top of the piano to sing Freedom before sending the fans home happy with Picking Up The Pieces and Black And Blue.
Paloma Faith will be back in the West Midlands for a Forest Live concert at Cannock Chase on June 28.
Leon Burakowski
