It was sorely disappointing back in April, when Paloma Faith’s Cardiff leg of her tour was postponed, but hooray – this time she’s made it! And, as she tells us during this gig, her three-year-old “doesn’t give a shit” when it comes to coughing her laryngitis-infected germs into her mother’s face, unfortunately.
The singer’s monologue on the turn of events that led to that earlier postponement is hilarious, and her further descriptions of becoming a single mum and her experiments in online dating also have us in stitches. She’s funny, she’s witty, she’s off-the-cuff irreverent – I caught Paloma on Celebrity Bake Off recently, and she was just as naughty and funny then, so can we have her on telly more, please? And in person more as well?
In the meantime, we have just this one night with her: the final date of her current tour, an extravaganza without any support act – just two hours of pure, unadulterated Paloma. And it’s fantastic. The stage set is, in her own words, “classy and sexy”, with a cinematic feel, a gorgeous band, backing singers and bassist voluptuous in PVC, and everyone dressed in red, white, and black. Set within an elongated, rectangular frame, strip lights artfully shine white and red at various points, and the set is stylish and sumptuous, decidedly modern but with a vintage feel all at once.
Paloma’s outfits match this aesthetic also, the songstress showcasing a slitted black skirt, black jacket, and v-fronted white top in the first half; later on, a red chiffon-y dress which looked half blancmange, half vampire bride. The first costume and its slightly formal, business suit feel – think Madonna circa Express Yourself – fits perfectly with some of the songs and themes of that section, with its ideas of female empowerment; rejecting ideas of being a “good girl” and embracing being a “bad woman” (also available as a t-shirt); and leaving a consistently disrespectful man.
All of which, Faith tells us, has resulted in reviews painting her as a ‘man-hater’; in some minds, it seems, valuing yourself and not putting up with bad behaviour, abuse, or disrespect, equals being a hater. A very strange response, perhaps even a kind of cultural gaslighting. Either way, Paloma’s having none of it. Along with these messages are, as her second outfit signifies, fun, frivolity, and even a little bit of saucy, sassy filth, as she simulates sex with one of her lady backing singers and twerks with cheeky abandon.
In the first half of the show, the singer is – with her powerful ballads – both Bond theme tune as well as a kind of James Bond herself. In the second half, she’s pop, cheek, and sauce, but with heart at the centre of her set, and the centre of herself as well. Altogether, it’s uplifting, enervating, inspiring, and just a whole lot of fun. The singer even does a stroll-about amongst the crowd at one point, and we love her all the more for it. Paloma for Bond, Paloma for Prime Minister, Paloma as our next national treasure please – and if you missed this tour, that’s sad for you, but make sure you catch her on her next one…
Paloma Faith, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Thurs 4 July
words MAB JONES photos TIM ALBAN
