Beth Orton

Beth Orton's great. Lying in the sunshine, in a park, listening to your little stereo, hearing her voice drift over the breeze. Or even in a small acoustic club, all cosy, where half the crowd are seated, but intent on listening. Though maybe NOT in a HUGE field on a GIGANTIC stage amongst thousands of people nattering about where they put their lighter.

Beth's tiny. She's a tiny small ikkle person, and even her sweet voice can't outdo the magnitude of this corporate fest. Even the fact that she came on stage in a cerise pink nightie doesn't grab enough of people's attention span away from the giant hot air balloon that's roaring flames and gases to the side of the stage in an attempt to make it off the ground.

I stand there and strain to hear Central Reservation over the sound of the girl next to me, squealing her way through it, and intermittently saying "I LOVE this album!" The fact is that Miss Orton's repertoire consists of quiet, slow dreamy songs like Thinking About Tomorrow and the most upbeat she gets is with Best Bit. Her music isn't exclusive to the quiet world. It would do it no harm to perk it up a bit when playing live. For every amount of momentum we gain throughout the set, we lose it in the following song, seemingly slower than the previous.

The crowd is flagging, until she plays She Cries Your Name, a hot fave. Then somewhere again I am lost when it all slows down again. It's like being on a very slow rollercoaster. Her attempt at Norwegian Wood doesn't even save the day. She should have been on a smaller stage, more akin to her size. What a waste. Maybe next time the V organisers will think through their scheduling a little more...

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