KT Tunstall at the Aladdin

Right in the midst of this month's A to Z Challenge, I got to see one of my favorite performers live.

KT Tunstall, the amazingly versatile singer-songwriter out of Edinburgh, Scotland, played a solo show to a sold-out crowd Thursday night. Actually, she had a little help from "all my Taiwanese friends," a reference to the loop pedal, keyboards, guitars and assorted equipment she used during a 75-minute set.

I saw KT last fall, when she and her band impishly dressed up like dead rock stars for a show on Halloween. ("Halloween with KT") She had the stage all to herself last night at the Aladdin and had the crowd in her hand from the first song.

She is a fireball. She can wail on a guitar and bounce around with the best of them, often using her signature loop pedal for backing vocals or instrumentation. But she can also slow things down, too, as she did on a few songs from her latest CD, "Tiger Suit," and an all-acoustic, unreleased seven-song EP.

She also has a disarming sense of humor:

Female fan: "I love you, KT."
Tunstall: "What a coincidence. I love you, too...and I don't even know you.  Does that make me slutty?"

The song below is from "Tiger Suit." She closed with a hit "Suddenly, I See" from her debut CD.

Wondering about her heritage? Her mom is Chinese and Scottish; her dad, Irish.

Halloween with KT

Just got in the door from a great concert at the Crystal Ballroom with KT Tunstall. What a talented lady and such an energetic performer. I love to see someone play with such abandon, wailing on the guitar, jumping like a pogo stick and really connecting with her audience.

Tonight was the kickoff of her U.S. tour in support of her new CD, "Tiger Suit." Her band came out in wigs and makeup, dressed like dead rock stars -- John Bonham, Sid Vicious, Mozart ("the original rock star) and Ziggy Stardust (OK, so he's just a David Bowie character, but he's inactive). KT herself wore a blond wig, striped shirt and a bullet hole in the forehead as Kurt Cobain. Bad taste? Come on, it was Halloween.

Anyway, KT and her band played 22 songs over 1 3/4 hours, including a three-song encore that wrapped up with "Suddenly I See."
-- A highlight: A solo version of "Other Side of the World," where she played a synthesizer and slowed down the tempo.
-- A surprise: She can't be much more than 5 feet, as everybody in the band, including lead guitarist Charlotte Hatherly, is a head or more taller.
-- A gratuitous comparison:  Last time I was at this venue, I marveled at the purity of Patty Griffin's voice, which is itself an amazing instrument, especially on acoustic numbers. KT, on the other hand, is the complete package as a rock 'n' roller, totally into it as a musician and singer-songwriter with a big, bold voice.

Throughout, Tunstall displayed a playful sense of humor:

"You love me?" she responded to a fan. "I love you too. I love you more than you love me -- and I don't even know you. Which makes me loose."

And, just before her last song, she told the audience: "You live in a beautiful corner of the world -- and your s*** is cheap!"

I missed KT on her last appearance in Portland two years ago. Sure was glad to catch her tonight.

Coming attraction

Been a while since I posted a music video that basically spoke for itself. So here goes with KT Tunstall, a Scottish rocker who's coming to Portland on Halloween night. I'm planning to go see her at the Crystal Ballroom, a small venue where I expect she'll alternate between rockin' the place and doing some cool acoustic stuff.

"Suddenly I See" is from her debut album, "Eye to the Periscope" and the version above is from when she performed on "Later...with Jools Holland," a British music television show. KT plays the guitar and percussion in this video, and the last minute of the clip is very cool.

The video below is more recent. Same song, but longer version in a different venue: The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awards. Can't decide which I like better, but I think I lean toward the Jools Holland version.

Lyrics are nice, too:

Her face is a map of the world
Is a map of the world
You can see she's a beautiful girl
She's a beautiful girl
And everything around her is a silver pool of light
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it
It makes you calm
She holds you captivated in her palm