When Rebecca Ferguson announced that rising vocal force Reigns would join her for three dates on the 15 Years: Stripped Back Tour this June, it felt like exactly the right pairing. Ferguson, celebrated by The Telegraph as operating in “the same league as Aretha Franklin”, has built this run of intimate dates around a simple, glorious proposition: just her voice, pianist Tom Seals, and the songs that have defined a remarkable fifteen-year career. Expect stripped-back renditions of fan favourites including Glitter & Gold, Nothing’s Real but Love, and Shoulder to Shoulder, performed at the kind of close quarters that make you feel every breath behind each note. But tickets here.
Opening the shows, Kent-raised Reigns arrives with her own brand of visceral, genre-defying soul. With a voice that’s drawn comparisons to Janis Joplin and a musical range that stretches from blues and R&B through to drum & bass. Her latest single Everybody Falls Apart Sometimes, a piano-led ballad written in the wake of personal grief, released to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, suggests she’ll fit the tone of these stripped-back evenings perfectly.
2nd June: Lytham St Annes, Lowther Pavilion
3rd June: Leeds, City Varieties
4th June: Gateshead, Glasshouse International Centre for Music
Having recently sold out three London shows and just released music supported by BBC Radio, KISS FM, and Capital Dance, Reigns is one of the most compelling new voices in UK music right now. Catching her in a room like the Lowther Pavilion or Leeds City Varieties will, in time, feel like a privilege.