Katy B whipped up a storm, sending the city dizzy with joy, with a thunderous performance at Manchester Academy on Saturday.
A blur of energy with a voice like a siren, Katy B tore up the Academy stage in a performance that hit like a sucker-punch on a bitingly cold Saturday night.
Supported by the sassy, upcoming Becky Hill, the night was fittingly colourful with resounding bass and starry lights, resulting in a cacophony of noise to pummel the senses and keep the feet tapping all night long.
Hill’s spirit is infectious and she banished early nerves with a musically tight, engrossing performance that kick started the crowd into gear and showed heaps of potential in the Bewdley singer.
By the time Katy B showed up, the crowd was well prepared and the London singer’s schizophrenic sound of garage, mainstream pop and drum and bass raised the roof as she launched into her hit single 5AM.
The singer also brought a glam factor to the performance as she was accompanied in parts by a team of dancers that gave the night a touch of Britney Spears meets garage.
Katy effortlessly got her crowd jumping and as she moved to the bass on stage, her fans competed on the floor with all sorts of eccentric bops as the night hit a feverous pitch.
Barreling through mainly her latest album, Little Red, the mood ranged from anarchic dance to anthemic ballads, as Katy’s flaunted her on stage, like an open book, having personal chats with her crowd.
The lights stripped low as Everything played out, a ballad penned for the singer’s recently deceased brother and the crowd-pleasing Crying for No Reason was roared back, as the ballad section of the gig drew out the crowd’s emotions.
The performance went someway to preaching to the unconverted – despite offering a handful of hits, her delivery of cuts from Little Red that weren’t singles, such as Aaliyah and Next Thing, were just as enticing especially when completed with sultry dance moves.
The highlight of the performance came with recent single, Still, an outpouring of post-breakup heartache, that steered clear of nauseating the audience with the trials and tribulations of love. Instead, it ploughed through the room with a stunning showcase of the singer’s vocal strengths.
She’s a fire cracker on stage, and is backed by one dazzling effects show, with the dancers, neon light poles and sweeping vocals oozing charisma as she rip-roared through the hour and a quarter long set.
Teasing came natural to Katy, and she came back on stage three times at the end to play the best-known tracks of Katy on a Mission and Lights On, before bidding farewell to a jubilant and impressed crowd.
