Review: Nina Smith – Theatre Royal – 3 December 2013

A follow up from Part 1 that took place last month at the Rescue Rooms; Nina Smith was joined by New Communication at Royal Concert Hall  for a second free event.  Introduced by the charismatic host with the endearing wonky tie, Ben Welch, first up were NEW COMMUNICATION (NC).  NC are a “supergroup” formed by County Youth Arts who’ve already enjoyed working with different artists and have so far have played Stealth and the Ashes.  Their funding was originally only until March but their success has let them continue and develop.  Their latest mentor is Notts lovely Nina Smith, who performed with them for the first 2 tracks that they actually wrote together.

NC is made up of 8 members, including 4 vocalists. The first song they played with Nina showed off their young raw talent with catchy beats.  In contrast their second song was a beautiful ballad with a modern take and a catchy chorus.   After this Nina left the stage to NC and what was interesting to observe was at this point they seemed to come alive, sadly, though, they had a polite but slightly dead audience, it was mostly just friends and family at this point in the evening, however NC held their own at the larger venue.

NC showcased the tracks off their EP which had great bass lines and a soulful male vocals from Mitchell, in fact all 4 vocalists came across as natural performers the rapper Jordan bringing a modern slightly ADM feel to the group.  They have amazing chemistry considering they had only been together for a year and a great stage presence despite only performing on stage a handful of times.  They even managed to get some audience participation going during their last track and snuck in some shameless plugging which is always good to hear!  Personally I preferred their own work than that with their mentor, it had a younger feel and much catchier.

Nina Smith came on about an hour after NC left the stage, following a Q&A with some local music bods. However the crowd had still not really built which is sad for a free gig but it was a school night.   However Nina managed to capture the attention of those that were there by starting with a video explaining that she was trying a new sound but doing so without losing her vulnerability, she said that she doesn’t want to be different but to produce RnB that is relatable.  Well Nina, you succeeded! With a four piece band, 2 vocalists and a slightly inappropriately placed tree Nina filled the theatre with spine tingling auditory delight.

Nina sang her beautiful heart-breaking eye-welling love songs, she’s as good a lyricist as she is a singer, which is really saying something as she has the most incredible range without losing a scrap of soul or depth that are beyond her years.  She is a natural story teller; you feel every word with her, the sign of a true artist.  People say you don’t know true emotion when you are young but this girl can fill her songs with such feelings it’s like she has lived a 100 years, however it’s more than the lyrics it’s the passion behind them.  It also doesn’t hurt that she is stunning; she is definitely the full package.

Nina ended on I wish, a funky little audience grabber, the perfect end to an all-round great night of Notts music. One last note on the audience, there was a great array of hair to be witnessed from pink to prim, representing not only the diversity Nottingham has, but also the wide spread appeal that Nina has.

Check out a gallery of more pictures from the event here:

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Review by Josie Opal

Photographs by Chris Patrick Photography