Live: Birdy

28th October

Academy 2

7/10

Jasmine van den Bogaerde, most commonly known by her stage Birdy, is one of the few teenagers making their way through the music industry without the aid of popular televised singing competitions. At just 17, she took Manchester’s Academy 2 by storm.

Following a very strong opening act by talented singer Richard Judge, Birdy stepped in to the delight of the crowd and evoked swooning in the 16 year old girls swarming this surprisingly intimate concert. Sat at her piano, she started with the less popular ‘All You Never Say’ and immediately got into it. It was obvious that her new album about teenage anguish and love would be very personal and given her relatively young age, she struggled to connect with the less connoisseur crowd. When she did not have her eyes closed, she was offering quick glances to her accompanying band.

However, once she got to her second track, ‘People Help the People’, it became clear why she has been a music sensation for the last couple of years. She was relentless. She hit the high notes and stayed there. Like a silky-voiced shaman weaving her magic through a spiritual connection, Birdy transported the crowd to a place only she knew of. Her set was filled with melancholy, nostalgia and heartbreak. Nevertheless, with the help of her constant shifting from piano to guitar, there was rarely a dull moment and she even managed to bring the house down with her sensational performance-of-the-night rendition of ‘Learn Me Right’, the original song from the motion picture Brave that she usually performs with the band Mumford and Sons. Her highly anticipated encore performance of ‘Skinny Love’ was also met with rapturous applause and provided the desired finish.

With an equal distribution for her set from both her albums Birdy and Fire Within, the young English songstress shows that she is not a one-time wonder and that she is here for the long-run – albeit with less immediate success than her contemporaries.