IN REVIEW: Caro Emerald treats Nottingham to island classic on her birthday

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Caro Emerald performing at the Royal Concert Hall

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On the day she turned 36, Dutch jazz singer Caro Emerald delivered a classic at the Royal Concert Hall on Wednesday night as Nottingham was given a ticket to her island.

The ‘Emerald Island Tour’, named after her recently released EP, transported Nottingham to her very own desert island in which the audience could bask in all its glory.

Check-in to her island was provided by Israeli artist Irit Dekel, whose album aptly named ‘Hello’ came out two-and-a-half weeks ago.

Irit has been on a journey herself, having moved to London from Tel Aviv at the end of 2015 in the hope of writing that album.

Accompanied by nothing more than an acoustic guitar, an accordion and her talented vocals, she set the tone for the night come the end of her set, even if she had to overcome nerves during the first couple of songs.

However it became clear this meant a lot to her with her shyness and constant gratitude with Nottingham responding, easing her in.

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Caro Emerald

The owner of the island herself Caro Emerald then escorted the audience into her realm, opening up with Riviera Life, the final single from her debut album Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor.

She immediately thanked Nottingham for ‘buying a ticket to her birthday party’ before jetting straight back in.

Caro commanded an extraordinary stage presence, amplified by her one-woman-band interlude during her hit The Maestro, from second album The Shocking Miss Emerald.

Not only did she beatbox with the microphone, she recorded her own vocal samples live on stage before adding the final layer of her flawless singing.

Shortly after Nottingham’s jaw was retrieved from the floor, the audience was given a timely reminder the visit to her island was on her terms as her band takes us from day to night while she quickly goes off stage for a costume change.

Fresh from her new EP Emerald Island, Caro takes Nottingham under the Tahitian Skies, showing off her incredible attention to detail to her setlist to match the staging, amplified by playing Quicksand shortly after.

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Caro Emerald and her band receive a standing ovation at the end of their performance

Nottingham was then invited inside her island ‘club’, in which the bass of the Royal Concert Hall’s sound system got a welcome workout.

Her hits Liquid Lunch and That Man got the audience on their feet with people of all ages dancing and singing along in the aisles.

Caro briefly left the audience stranded, teasing before her encore which opened with an extended cover of Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy.

She told Nottingham ‘the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to be loved and to love in return’, which applies perfectly to her and her music.

After treating Nottingham to her most successful hit A Night Like This, her audience returned the compliment by singing happy birthday.

Caro then returned Nottingham back to reality as she finished with Whatchugot off her new EP.

If only the ticket to her island had been one way.

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