Imelda May, tour review: Her wild side was worth the wait

New-look Imelda is still fun and formidable, says Andre Paine
Mature reinvention: Imelda May
Mark Winpenny/Livepix
Andre Paine21 November 2017

It's change for Imelda May. The Irish singer has ditched her retro rockabilly sound, split up with her guitarist husband and emerged with a sleek new look (the peroxide quiff is now a dark fringe).

May, 42, is so pleased with her fifth album, Life Love Flesh Blood, she played it all at the Palladium. Even the iTunes bonus tracks got an airing.

It’s a striking collection of slower, sensuous songs, although May was as formidable and fun as ever. Stalking the stage in heels and a ripped mini dress, she warned the front row: “I think you’re going to get a whole lot of show.”

It was a bold performance bolstered by a brass section, backing singers and a pair of guitarists. May seemed liberated as her rasping voice ranged from the gospel of When It’s My Time to the sultry Sixth Sense and the lovelorn country of Black Tears. For all the domestic strife on songs such as Should’ve Been You, she was playful too. Bad Habit was blues-rock inspired by retail therapy, while How Bad Can A Good Girl Be sneaked in a verse about an orgasm.

“We’re going to kick it up shortly,” May promised fans who had sat through a dozen new tunes. They were soon out of their seats for the raucous Mayhem and Johnny Got A Boom Boom, during which she whacked an Irish bodhran drum.

May’s wild side was worth the wait, though her mature reinvention was the evening’s real triumph.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in