Kristen Sinclair

This review originally appeared in the now-dufunct GiggingNI in 2017. Returning to Belfast for the first time in five years, American pop rockers Train finished up their Play That Song Tour at the Waterfront Hall last night. Having penned some of the most recognisable songs from the last decade or so, they played to a nearly full house of fans eagerly awaiting their come back. Before the San Francisco five-piece take to the stage to wrap up their headline tour, tonight’s support comes in the form of Hannah Grace , an up and coming talent making waves in the UK music scene with her incredible vocal prowess. You might be familiar with Hannah’s work as her enchanting cover of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ soundtracks the most recent Lloyd’s Bank TV ad campaign. She emerges in the dim light of the stage without introduction, accompanied only by her guitarist. Immediately her soaring notes and mesmerising whistle tones fill the auditorium in a style reminiscent of London Grammar...

This review originally appeared in the now-defunct GiggingNI in 2017. Last year two of Scotland’s best loved acts, eighties titans Simple Minds and Edinburgh songstress KT Tunstall , collaborated on an acoustic reworking of ‘Promised You a Miracle’ ahead of the band’s unplugged album Acoustic in November. Tonight, they share the stage at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall for a stripped back gig of their biggest hits, without the help of electric guitar and synthesisers.  Even before support act KT Tunstall begins proceedings, rather unusually Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr creates an intensely personable rapport with the audience from the get-go; he enters the stage alone to introduce his friend and collaborator and shares fond memories of previous gigs in Belfast’s Ulster Hall. Not that Tunstall needs much of an introduction, as an energetic one-woman show who has graced the last decade with some of its best folk pop hits. Armed only with her acoustic guitar, a tambourine ...