Charlotte Church At The Bodega Nottingham REVIEW

Photo © Nottingham Confidential

Along with her ethereal and bewitching new sound, there were so many things about this gig at the Bodega on a midsummer August night that seemed dreamily unreal; that this is Charlotte Church's first ever tour of the UK- unbelievable, that she's 'starting again from the bottom' and only playing small venues- unbelievable, and- most unbelievable of all- that contrary to some reports, the Bodega was not sold out tonight, but for the completely mixed bag and utterly transfixed audience this made it all a triple treat, to be able to comfortably get up close and listen to that unmistakingly unbelievable voice in one of Nottingham's most intimate venues.

Her new material and direction is a little bit Goldfrapp, a little bit Kate Bush and a little bit Bjork, with beautiful, soaring, heart-wrenching and spell-binding songs fantastically showing off and showcasing her vocal range and inspired by some pretty weighty issues including the Levinson Inquiry, whilst Judge From Afar, our fave in the set, was written after reading an article in the Daily Mail "And," she adds," the comments online after it which were even worse, why did I read them!" Her stage presence is instantly likeable and utterly lovely, dressed in indie-chick little patterned dress with thick tights and flat boots and adorned with a halo of fluffy golden wavy tresses, she really is a tiny, gorgeous goddess singing her heart out and operating loop foot pedals at the same time. With a plan to release five EPs over the next twelve months rather than an album, two songs are available now including the superb How Not To Be Surprised When You're A Ghost. "The video is a bit strange for this song ,"she laughs "but I really like it!" and you can check it out here

This gig was also her first time in Nottingham "We got lost in the one way system!" and "Looks like you've got loads of lovely vintage shops here!" Eating spoonfuls of honey and glycerin between songs and then nipping outside after the gig with the audience for a crafty fag, she hung around chatting with fans for ages, happily signing endless armfuls of merch and to top all of that she even told us a secret which you can watch in the video below. She rocks! She rolls! Get up and get down on your knees and believe in the legend that is Charlotte Church and confidentially, you can come back to Nottingham for that shopping trip any time, Charlotte love.