On March 15th, 34-year-old singer song writer and actress Paloma Faith brought her Perfect Contradiction Tour to Bournemouth, where the Hackney-born star performed hits from 2009's "Do you want the truth or something beautiful?", her second album, "Fall from Grace" and her most recent and successful album "A Perfect Contradiction."
The newly crowned Best British Female at the Brit Awards was a joyous display of artistry, who gave as much of herself as she did her Music. Having spent 2 hours in the company of this quirky bundle of fun there is no doubt that she can outperform her female counterparts such as Pixie Lott, Jessie J and Ellie Goulding. With a simple but classy back drop, Paloma's fantastic band which included a brass section and double bass brought the big band feel to the smaller touring stage. Faith's three bare footed backing singers were superb in both vocal ability and stage performance and at times when they joined Paloma at centre stage they were the best of any girl band.
There were regular pauses in the music, so that Paloma could 'have a chat' with her audience and that's just what it was, a chat. At one point, Paloma brought her Brit award out on stage, to a standing ovation, and thanked everyone for their continued support. Commenting that she would love to give everyone in the audience a piece of the award, she joked that the piece would be 'too small and no one would believe you.' So instead she awarded everyone a virtual Brit Award.
Encouraging her audience to dance with her there was more signing and the ever eccentric star strolled through the crowd and up to the back of terrace to greet the fans at the back of the auditorium. There are certainly no heirs and graces with this down to earth singer who by her admission is kept in check by her mum - success without excess - was the message. During one of the 'tea breaks' there was a rare glimpse of how musicians used to be when Paloma shared her political opinions and urged people to use their vote wisely come the the seventh of May. This was received well by a clapping and cheering audience with shouts of 'Vote Paloma.'
After an encore of three songs, having promised to come back out if people cheered, it was the end of what had been a funny and colourful Show that I for one did not want to end. The ever quirky singer told fans not to wait outside for autographs because she wouldn't come out for fear of getting ill and not being able to continue the tour, once again encouraged us to vote and then disappeared off the stage for good. Fans around commented on how humble and down to earth she was as I commented on how funny she had been. But more importantly for a female singer in a crowded market I would definitely spend my money to see her live again