Friday 15 July 2016

#347: SHURA - LIVE AT HMV MANCHESTER




Shura has just released her debut album "Nothing's Real" and to celebrate this event, she performed a short stripped down live set as well as signing copies of the album for fans. Shura explained how she grew up in Manchester and that it was her first time ever performing and signing at a record store. Shura performed vocals and keyboards, and was joined by a guitarist. There was a strong crowd of about 75 fans who applauded as she walked onto the makeshift stage.


Shura opened with "What Happened to Us?" She explained to the crowd that these live versions would sound rather different to the album, which has a much broader Synth Pop sound. Shura revealed a very natural sounding voice, slightly huskier pitched than on the album. The acoustic guitarist gave this song almost a bit of a Country twang. The emotive chorus "I was never ready for your love" hinted at a broken relationship.


Shura had a lot of fun banter with the crowd and came across as a very genuine, charming person, and despite the album's title, very real. However perhaps it was because it was a hometown show or playing to such an intimate crowd, but it was easy to tell she was feeling very nervous. During her song "Touch" she did miss a chord change, having to stop the song briefly and then find her way back into it. But this moment was actually warmly received by the crowd, and I think her confidence actually boosted because of this. Her next song "Make It Up" was the highlight, with her voice soaring to louder volumes and the guitarist now on an electric guitar sprinkling textures over her keyboard playing. Shura's performance was a very honest one, and despite making a couple of mistakes, was very much entertaining and something the die hard fans will certainly cherish.
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July 11th 2016 @ HMV Manchester. Photos by Rich Smith of Digital Bath.

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