"The concert at the Shepards Bush Empire came just over halfway through Bic Runga’s first headlining UK tour. This was by far the largest venue on the tour and despite being relatively unknown to the British public the notice board on the front of the concert hall proclaimed that the night was “Sold Out”. I wasn’t overly surprise since Bic’s previous London appearances at smaller venues generated a high level of demand with tickets being traded well above their face value.

The Shepards Bush Empire is an old concert hall dating back to the start of the 20th century. It still has the original three tiers of seating but the ground floor stall seats have been removed increasing the capacity from 1,650 to 2,000.

After the two well chosen support acts had entertained the crowd Bic took to the stage alone and sang two songs while playing the guitar. After the enthusiastic applause had died down she introduced her band for this tour. Given that the band comprised of musicians from the four corners of the world, well Australia, Ireland, France and New Zealand they formed a tight unit and played well together. Most of the set came from the current album Beautiful Collision with a couple of crowd pleasers from the first album Drive towards the end. It was a magical performance, which left the audience calling out for more than just the single two song encore.

My only concern is that as Bic’s profile rises in the UK there will be more shows like this where there are large security barriers and even larger security guards in front of stage. It was an enjoyable night and I had a front row spot, it wasn’t quite the same as the previous night. When I sat crossed legged on the floor looking up in wide-eyed delight as Bic sung a few feet away from me."

Note:    Chris followed several of Bic's gig's around the UK for this tour.

Photos

Photo's are courtesy of, copyright to, and used with permission from Chris_Wales

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Bic on guitar

Bic on keyboards

Matt Sephton

An excellent photo by Matt Sephton of "Bic in Motion" at the Shepherds Bush concert.

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