It would be fair to say that Colleen is not a natural on the stage, but she is definitely a talented musician. She proved that as she swapped between various instruments, electronic equipment and created layered vocal tracks on her loop station. She doesn’t have the swagger of a rock star dominating the stage and smiling down at her adoring public. She is quite a different figure,  shy and self-conscious but really it is all about the lovely sounds she creates.

She said on the night that she only sang live for the first time a week ago, which is hard to believe as she has a lovely singing voice; faint, delicate and with a charming Gallic accent. Cécile Schott (aka Colleen) said she has developed stage fright over her years of performing and that when she was younger she didn’t have any fear of performing at all!

Her set was mostly from her new album (other than for a cover from The Night of the Hunter – below), and was very varied in sound and approach. Sometimes the electronic sounds would well up and dominate over all others and at other times it was simple acoustic instruments and vocals. Her music was varied and always interesting, with complex layered sounds built up and often contorted into unusual shapes.

Seti the first played support on the night, and they were a five (sometimes six) piece on the night, with Cello sounds to the fore. They are a band I’ve been interested in hearing live for a long time now, and they did not disappoint! Their latest album ‘Melting Calvary‘ is available on their bandcamp page for a snip at €7. Go check it out!