Amy Studt at The Joiners :: Wessex Scene Online

Amy Studt at The Joiners

18th December 2009
Emmeline Curtis Edge Editor

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Amy Studt has been relatively silent on the music scene for a few years now, so curiosity was my main feeling when I went down to the Joiners to see her perform.

I had no idea whether she would be as good as I remembered from my younger years, or whether she would be drastically different. I was in for a pleasant shock however; her sound has grown and matured, and her songs are better than ever.

Support on the night came from local Southampton artist, Atlum Schema, who put on a very good show despite a few technical problems. The set ended on an impressive note with the song, ‘Ballad of the Self-Blessed, Self-Less’, leaving me to ponder how one man could create such a sound and put on that good a show, all on his own.
‘Definitely someone to check out live.’

When Amy later came on stage, she played a stripped down acoustic set, which showed off the beauty and simplicity of her voice and songs. The venue wasn’t packed out, making the show nice and intimate, and there was a really good atmosphere with the crowd fully behind Amy.

The set list featured a selection of songs from both of her albums, some new tracks and a surprise cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ - an amazing song, that Amy sang beautifully and made her own.

‘Chasing the Light’, a track from her latest album, showed off Amy Studt’s voice really well and was one of the most powerful songs performed. The best song of the night though, was one of her new songs, ‘Tree’.

‘It was sweet and funny, and had me singing along to the line, “I want to be a tree..”;’
it is perhaps my new favourite song. I was very disappointed to find it is not on the album.

Amy only performed two songs from her debut album: ‘Under the Thumb’ and the song that everyone remembers her for, ‘Misfit’. They sounded, however, nothing like I remembered. They were much simpler and mature sounding, reflecting the change in Amy since they were first released in 2002.

In between songs we were treated to some very entertaining stories from Amy and good natured banter between her and guitarist Connor, a testament to Amy’s growing confidence and their great onstage chemistry. It is perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed the night so much, that the audience felt like they were sharing in her experience and not just watching a performance.

The night ended with a new song called ‘Sleepy Amy’, written while she was touring around in a motor home. The song is reminiscent of a lullaby and had me swaying along; it was a lovely chilled out way to end the night.

For those of you that have preconceived ideas from memories of Amy’s pop star background, ignore them and prepare to be pleasantly surprised. The whole night at Joiners was a really enjoyable experience, and one of the best gigs I have seen in a while.

Score: 100%