Face Of Cheam

When this went on sale in September there was a bit of umming and rrring about this. Bit pricey at £25 but I was a bit gutted that I missed her seven years ago when her Alanis-esque album Left Of The Middle came out. An e-mail to a couple of friends met with a similar reaction but we agreed to take a risk. Very glad I did. Forget the easy listening of the albums this was a proper rock show. Loud angsty and energetic. Missing the support Natalie and her band came on dead on nine and played a twenty song set for an hour and a half. People enjoyed the big hits such as Shiver and Torn, but the other more obscure tracks like Sanctury and Starting Today were not downers at all. Natalie looked fantastic in her motorbike tee shirt and combat trousers and really worked her way round the stage and up to the balconies using her huge brown eyes to the best effect. Despite being sold out the venue seemed far from full and we were lucky enough to get the normal position just in front of the left hand bar. From here we couldn't quite see the keyboard guy but we did have a great view and a fantastic sound quality. The only disappointment here was when Natalie introduced a song written by her husband with the downning factor being she has a husband. A two song encore was got and she ended with Big Mistake. From our view we could see she had left through the stage door before the last guitar chord had been struck. A fantastic gig and we ended the night in the Richmond having time for a couple of pints.

Set - Wishing I Was There / That Day / Sunlight / Satisfied / Wrong Impression / Counting Down The Days / One More Addiction / Smoke / Sanctuary / Come On Home / Starting Today / Left Of The Middle / Pineapple Head / Shiver / I've Been Watching / Beauty On The Fire / Torn / Impressed ///encore/// Don't You Think / Big Mistake