LeftLion’s music co-editor Amrit Virdi took a trip to Nottingham’s Rough Trade to see Billie Marten…
A Rough Trade gig is always a solid, safe bet, with its intimate setting and polite but enthusiastic crowds. On a rainy Tuesday evening, Yorkshire-bred Billie Marten brought the 150-capacity audience a welcome escape.
The show was put on in support of Marten’s third album, Drop Cherries, released last Friday, and comes ahead of her full-band driven Rescue Rooms show in May. Seeing the singer-songwriter perform by herself with just her guitar, and the odd appearance from technician Matt, was a treat, and highlighted her true talent as her isolated vocals sounded the same as her studio recordings. Switching between electric and acoustic seamlessly, she also exhibited her musical skill set.
Opening the set with lead single This Is How We Move, she jumped straight into the stunning performance, singing my personal favourite Willow afterwards. The times where she did talk to the crowd were humorous and showed that she is still humble despite her success, calling out one fan on FaceTime for not being at the show and asking the crowd for interesting facts about Nottingham.
It's rare to go to a gig and see the crowd be so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, but that was certainly the case here. Billie herself was also stunned by the "polite" nature of the crowd but managed to rouse laughter with her funny quips and applause with her excellent renditions of songs from across her discography. It’s safe to say she had the crowd captivated for her thirty-minute set, even when technical difficulties caused a delay early on and called for an impromptu speech.
Though the crowd were respectful, the presence of some die-hard fans was not hard to spot, as they gasped every time she performed an older song, including La Lune, Lionhearted and Vanilla Baby. Being as some of these have been my favourite songs for four years, I admit I was one of these fans.
Intimate gigs such as those at Rough Trade thrive off of fan connection, and Marten’s willingness to talk to the crowd created just that, as she even asked the crowd to pick the final song, to which she was met with a heckle of responses and ultimately chose the beautiful Milk & Honey.
Taking the time to meet fans and sign albums after the show was over, you could tell she was grateful for the audience for taking the time to see her. You can catch Billie Marten at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms in May.
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