SELF ESTEEM BRINGS HER ‘COMPLICATED TOUR’ TO EDINBUGH’S USHER HALL

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**SELF ESTEEM PERFORMING AT EDINBURGH’S USHER HALL**
**PHOTOCREDIT: CALUM BUCHAN**

Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem has been quietly becoming a phenomenon in the UK music scene. Her last album, Prioritise Pleasure pushed her to the forefront of must see acts at festivals and her new album, A Complicated Woman, has taken her to an even higher level.

This gig felt more like a quasi-religious experience. The joy, the happiness, the empowerment and the sheer determination to do things her way shone through. The live experience is a mix of music, choreography and, what can best be described, as a show!

Support act Moonchild Sanelly hails from South Africa, having seen her before I had some idea of what to expect but nothing prepared me for this. She was a whirling chaotic presence on stage, giving us everything from call and response, singalongs and twerking with a number of other things in between. If you are going to see this tour please don’t miss Moonchild, she had the crowd at the Usher Hall singing along to songs I’m sure most of them didn’t know and having, quite simply, the best time, she created a mix between a rave and a religious experience and it just didn’t let up!

Then Self Esteem took the stage, the stagecraft that goes into the performance is immense, the sense of belonging that is engendered, the sheer party atmosphere and yet the seriousness of some (but not all) of the messages all added up to an outstanding live experience. I walked out of this show with a massive grin on my face and with my body still vibrating from the sheer power of the music and the performance.

The chorus line that has become Self Esteem’s trademark has been expanded to 8. The interesting and, at times, challenging choreography is perfect and compliments each song so well that you can’t actually imagine the song without it. The staging is simple with chairs used to great effect but a fake brazier/light round which the chorus gathers to sing acapella is without a doubt one of the highlights. Bringing out Moonchild for a song was also perfect, she fitted so well into what was happening and complimented it.

Musically Self Esteem is getting better and better, some of the new songs are so electric that you begin to wonder if they might be too much, the knowing looks to the crowd, the excellent banter, the semi-serious points about why there are not more women in music, all meld together to create one of the most perfect live music experiences I think I’ve had. I’malready working out if I can go back and see Self Esteem again on this tour as it really is that good.

The tour continues throughout September and October and if you can get a ticket, you really should, Rebecca’s star is in the ascendency, this is a great time to see her in venues which still feel relatively intimate. If you don’t go you will regret it, as an artist she is at the top of her game and worth every penny of the ticket.