Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Tonight at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, Scottish singer/songwriter Kirsten Adamson makes her South Coast debut to a sold-out crowd. Local Promotions Company “Square Roots Promotion” have shown faith in putting on her first-ever show in the area and ticket sales have exceeded expectations. The evening is to be an intimate seated affair; with the daughter of Big Country/Skids talisman Stuart Adamson being joined by her tour side-kick guitarist Jon Mackenzie.
The evening kicks off with a track called “No Other Mother” from Kirsten’s recently released second album “Landing Place”. Her voice is pure and boasts some sublime characteristics, with many of the audience being clearly surprised by the purity and quality of the vocal delivery. Next up is one of her Father’s tunes in the form of a lesser-known track called “Birmingham” released on the “Bon Appetit” EP in 1996. Tonight’s setlist is made up of tracks mainly from the new album including the dynamic “Let Me Live” and the appropriate “Stars on The South Coast”. This includes some impressive work on the mandolin from Jon, whose considerable skills with his guitar really complement Kirsten’s songs.
We are all treated to a glimpse into future releases with a couple of brand new songs: a beautiful track called “The Heart” and inspired by the passing of Kirsten’s Grandparents an emotive tune called “Grandfather’s Accordion”. Both tunes show some impressive musicianship and that this creative vein still has plenty to give. The audience is transfixed as each tune is played and everyone sits in respectful silence as the pair deliver their thoroughly enthralling set. After performing the duo take a break to have a short interval and to do a few meet and greets with some of the audience.
After the break, the two return and it feels that they are much better acquainted with the audience. Things get off to a great start with “Take Me As I Am” and a track called “Live Love Cry”, which was created as part of Kirsten’s former band “The Marriage”. There are a lot of Big Country fans here tonight and it’s clear they are interested in how Stuart’s daughter is using the musical abilities that her Father gifted her. Like with Bono’s son Elijah Hewson and many other children of stars, it can be a help and also a hindrance in having a famous parent. Kirsten is carrying herself very well and I’m sure without doubt her Father would be so proud of what she has achieved to date, with all the hard work that she has put in.
A recent single “My Father’s Songs” about getting to know her Father by singing songs, stirs up all sorts of emotions and some of us shed a few tears remembering the big man. His legacy is thoroughly remembered with a charmingly reworked version of one of his best-known songs “In a Big Country”. The audience all join in with the chorus of this much-loved tune and this ends what has been a superb night that will be remembered for a very long time to come. Kirsten has a host of natural talents and with performances like this, she will soon be performing in front of much larger audiences and will hopefully be heard by many more people sometime in the near future.
Set-List
No Other Mother
Birmingham (Big Country)
Let Me Live
Up & Down
Stars On The South Coast
The Heart
Grandfather’s Accordion
I Will Sign
Take Me As I Am
Live Love Cry (The Marriage)
I Wish It Would Rain (Nanci Griffith)
Coals & Ashes
Time with You
Daniel
My Fathers Songs
Without Warning
In A Big Country (Big County)
Videos
Links
https://www.kirstenadamson.com
https://www.facebook.com/kirstenadamsonmusic
Words by David Chinery.
