Gig review: Nadine Shah at Hebden Bridge Trades Club

If you are a BBC Radio 6 fan, love intimate venues, then this concert was the perfect combination.
Nadine ShahNadine Shah
Nadine Shah

One of the radio station’s favourite independent venues, Hebden Bridge Trades Club, was hosting one of the station’s favourite and fast-rising stars, Nadine Shah, on Saturday.

Hebden was featured on the Steve Lamacq Show as part of the Independent Music Venue week and it has to be on everyone’s bucket list of music venues to visit.

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A cosy bar, intimate main room (capacity 200), plenty of space and easy to get to the front, as the punters seem very amenable.

Nadine Shah certainly took an instant liking to it, praising the place and the punters which seemed a far cry from the night before when she and her band played London’s Roundhouse. She said she was certainly not impressed by the muted reaction of the audience in the South, or words to that effect!.

This proud Tynesider is not afraid to say - and sing - what she thinks. Her music is intense and political and packs a powerful live punch. She has been promoting her third album, Holiday Destination, over the last few months.

From the refugee crisis to the demonisation of the North, the songs are not afraid to attract controversy and debate and live they smack you in the head and kick you in the belly.

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Nadine has a powerful stage presence and yet can be tender and engaging with the audience. Hebden Bridge was honoured to host a star bound for greater things and Nadine Shah seemed honoured to be playing at such an iconic venue.

A mention must be made of the support act, Life, an indie punk quartet who hail from Hull, and have a frontman who is a mixture of Jarvis Cocker, Mark E Smith and the Kaiser Chief’s Ricky Wilson (early years of course).

Exciting and energetic, next stop Hebden Bridge headliners and then the world...

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