KT Tunstall’s one-woman show fills Union Transfer with energy and emotion

All photos by Chris Sikich | countfeed.tumblr.com

On Friday night, singer/songwriter KT Tunstall and her one-woman live band wowed a rare Union Transfer seated audience at the early show. Showcasing her stellar 2013 album Invisible Empire / Crescent Moon, her rich vocals and guitar mastery, as well as cameos made by a piano and kazoo, among others, shined from the opening with “Invisible Empire” to “Made of Glass,” where she did her best whistling impersonation of Andrew Bird, whose pursed-lip prowess is featured on the album version (for the record, Tunstall did wonderfully). Looping in her voice, guitar, and clapping by her and the audience, she filled the hall with the depth and emotion of her work.

Right smack in the middle of the set, her stunning “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” sprung to life with her “woo-hoo’s” echoing through a very happy crowd. That is when the kazoo popped out and she played chords from The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and then blasted into a cover of that classic. At one point, she paused to ask the audience why they were in attendance when they could be somewhere else. She knew the answer, but the crowd reassured her anyway. And her finale, the masterful “Chimes” from her latest album, saw her put down her guitar after adding it to the loop as she snapped her fingers and let her voice usher the crowd into the night: “Lifting off the lid of all I know/Lifting off the lid/Finding out about a love I’ll grow/Into something big.” The adoration of artist and audience was in synch, as it would be hard to believe that anyone went home unsatisfied.