The Bay Series live open-air concerts take place on Alexandra Head in Cardiff Bay, with British dance-pop icon Becky Hill gracing the 2024 edition’s Saturday night. With Storm Lilian bringing in wet and windy conditions, the best we could hope for was no rain; arriving in time for Hannah Wants’ crowd-pleasing set, which included tracks like Sandy B’s Make The World Go Round and Dreamer by Livin’ Joy, as the grey skies gathered to the west we were lucky to only experience a light shower before. After which the rainclouds moved over to reveal a starlit sky.
Hill has been quoted as saying “I want to use my position to bring about change in what is still a male-dominated industry,” and she stayed true to her word at this event, with an all-female bill completed by Charlotte Plank and Carla Monroe. Headliner Becky Hill, meanwhile, opens with True Colours – the first track on her second album, Believe Me Now? – and performs for nearly 90 minutes. Songs like Overdrive, Crazy What Love Can Do and Back And Forth find much of the crowd singing at the top of their voices. After belting out Afterglow and Disconnect, she tells us she loves drum’n’bass (hey, who doesn’t?) – cue for Releasa to join the party and deliver One Track Mind.
Her backing singers had a lovely gospel sound at times, her drummer was up high on the stage , and her fabulous band included two violinists I think (I’ll come back to that) a cellist and a saxophonist.
Hill thanks us, in English and Welsh, for buying tickets, and for supporting live music events, and the performance was outstanding, as you’d expect. The event, too, was well-managed, and the security were on point, though one or more screens allowing those of us further back to see the performance better would have been great.
After penultimate song Wish You Well, Becky Hill thanks us again, and before long we’re getting ourselves back towards the city, with an orange, glowing waning gibbous moon watching over us.
Becky Hill, Hannah Wants, Charlotte Plank + Carla Monroe, Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay, Sat 24 Aug
words EMMA J SMITH photos TIM ALBAN
