London is Free is a great source not only of ways to save a little cash, but also to find out about a number of events that could easily be overlooked. That’s where I stumbled across the news that Billy Bragg and KT Tunstall would be performing together in HMV on Monday lunchtime.
Steve’s written it up in much more detail than I will, but it’s fair to say that initial disappointment that they wouldn’t be playing any of Billy’s own songs gave way to considerable entertainment as the pair botched their way through covers of songs from the past five decades of British rock and pop.
Not having had the chance to see KT play before I only knew her material from remarkably over-produced records, and this performance wasn’t exactly a chance to get much of an impression of what her own songs would be like outside of that Sony-inflicted sheen. But her willingness to look rather foolish up on stage, hamming her way through songs they both admitted they’d mostly learned by watching videos on youtube, certainly left a good impression.
With a scrum of photographers gathered in a roped off area in front of the stage it was hard to get close enough for clear shots, but you can see those photos that felt worth sharing over on flickr.
Sounds like a great time. I’ve been a fan of Tunstall’s for a while, but her live stuff is definitely far better than her studio stuff (although her Acoustic Extravaganza album escaped most of the Sony gloss). I saw her in ’06 but I wasn’t able to record it because Sony sent her out with those LiveNation scumbags, and they don’t allow anyone to record shows.