Live Review: Self Esteem and the Royal Northern Sinfonia // Sage Gateshead, 21.07.2023

BBC Proms returned to Sage Gateshead, following a one-off concert in 2022, with its own mini-festival away from their usual home at the Royal Albert Hall. The offering of a handful of events outside of London, indicates the desire to open BBC Proms up to a wider audience. This was undoubtedly achieved in the first of these performances which saw Mercury Prize nominee Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) collaborate with the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

As Self Esteem, Taylor has found a home as an award nominee for some of the biggest UK music awards. Her last album Prioritise Pleasure topped numerous ‘album of the year’ lists when released in 2021 and her live performances (including a previous show at Sage Gateshead earlier this year) have garnered high praise from critics and audiences alike. If there is an artist capable of bridging the gap between pop and the classically-inclined Proms, it’s Self Esteem.

Opening act Divorce had no difficulty winning over Self Esteem fans and classical music enthusiasts alike with songs from their 2022 debut EP Get Mean. Their genre-spanning sound that hits indie-rock, grunge and country, is held tightly together by zealous performances from band leaders Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow. Lyrics that paint pictures, tell stories and evoke emotion are delivered with humour and charm, especially in set-closing track ‘Checking Out’. It is easy to see why Rebecca Lucy Taylor is such an enthusiastic advocate for this upcoming band. Make sure to catch them performing at one of their upcoming festival dates or on their headline tour in November.

When the Royal Northern Sinfonia took to the stage with conductor Robert Ames, there was palpable excitement to see how Self Esteem’s powerful pop songs would be transformed by the new arrangements from Ames and co-arranger Colin Elliot. Despite a declaration of nerves when Self Esteem took to the stage, Taylor didn’t falter once as she powered through opening track ‘I’m Fine’ or any of the 13-song set.

For fans of Self Esteem’s discography, the orchestral arrangements allowed familiar songs to feel fresh and new. Faithful to the bold spirit of the original tracks, the full sound of the brass, strings and percussion perfectly capture the drama of soaring choruses like those in ‘Favourite Problem’ and ‘The 345’. The poignant, reflective vulnerability of ‘John Elton’ and ‘Just Kids’ equally well expressed by more sparse arrangements that allow Taylor’s vocals to take the lead, with the backing vocals utilised as an instrument of their own. It is not that any of these songs are elevated by the Royal Northern Sinfonia collaboration, they already exist on a higher plain, but every note of the orchestral backing successfully commands the undivided attention the songs deserve.

Set highlights include ‘Still Reigning’, where Taylor’s emotive vocals complemented by the delicate, sustained strings in the song’s climax feels almost spiritual, and an impassioned encore cover of George Michael’s ‘Praying for Time’.

There are sing-along moments in the livelier and more playful performances such as ‘Fucking Wizardry’ where simple percussion and vocals that hold the focus in the verses, are filled out by fuller brass and strings in the triumphant choruses. In contrast, the audience is regularly stunned into silence as the synergy between Taylor, her backing vocalists and the Royal Northern Sinfonia convinces a crowd into thinking this is how these songs were always supposed to be heard.

Captivated quiet is punctuated by rapturous applause and following ‘I Do This All The Time’, the final song of the night, the clapping and cheering didn’t lull until the final member of the orchestra left the stage. A deserved mark of appreciation for a show so special you left feeling lucky to have just been in the room.

Words by Lena Moss

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