We’re rather partial to Mica Millar’s soul music here at Urbanista, so imagine how gutted I was that I couldn’t make it to the launch of my favourite of her singles – The Defender! It was always going to be a long-shot, and an emergency at work caused by Microsoft changing things without warning us, sealed the deal in keeping me away.
Fortunately the very talented and all-round top bloke Graham Smillie was there and kindly wrote this review and let us use his photos.
Over to Graham…
Mica Millar launched her new single at Leaf last night and she did so with a huge amount of style. Backed by a ten-piece band she powered her way through an hour and a half of original material. Mica possesses a fine soul voice and uses it well. I’m afraid I was so taken by the performance that I forgot to get the set list, so I can only remember the names of the singles I am already familiar with. Not the First and My Lover were two of my favorite songs of last year and they’ve lost none of their power and poignancy over the year. If I had hairs on the back of my head they’d still be on end. Check them out, they’re great.
The big purpose of the night was to launch the new single, The Defender. It’s another in a similar vein to the others, oozing class from every pore. The song is tied tightly to Mica’s Defender Campaign, a multi media project which aims to highlight human empathy through real life stories.
The only cover of the night was Natural Woman, and Mica and the band made it feel effortlessly easy. The song has been covered by so many that it could’ve been lost, but it fit perfectly with the thread of the show.
Unfortunately, this short tour is very short and with only one other show left, tomorrow at the Wardrobe in Leeds you need to get your skates on if you want a ticket. It’ll be worth it, fantastic show!
Support on the night came from a young singer called Caiine Backed up by a keyboard/guitarist assistant she performed a fine set of songs. Her voice reminded me, at times of Sade, no bad thing in my book. Definitely worth a watch and listen if you get the chance.
Words + Pictures © Graham Smillie
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