Going to see Becky Hill last Friday felt like heading to a festival, lining up to enter, and finding this beguiling, inky room, filled with flaming yellow glow sticks, raving strobe lights, and fans curling around the space to buy pints and dinner before it all began.
When we stepped a little closer, saw the venue was entirely standing, with a charged feel that bought a bustling, bubbling energy in the crowd, close to bursting if she didn’t enter the stage soon.
The supporting act was Catching Cairo, who lured us into the arena, away from the chilly autumnal outside, with her songs Touch and Lose No Sleep.
Becky is known for her Drum and Bass hits and festival soundtracks, but we were most surprised by the variety, the range of genres that she shifted between during the performance.
Surpassing that though, was Becky’s vocal range. She is a powerful performer with a resonant, warm voice that intoxicated us and invited the crowd to scream the lyrics back to her.
Becky’s priority throughout the performance was with the crowd. Were they okay? Were they having a good time? And she was perfectly willing to stop the performance entirely if anything went wrong. We really felt seen, and that’s rare for a single person addressing a crowd of 7,500.
She even tried to make a political statement, citing how tough the year had been with the cost of living and housing crisis, a decision that came from a place of good intention, yet felt a little insensitive when Becky said that despite all that, she was honoured that we had spent our money on the gig and that we should party and have a good time.
She was clearly very grateful for us choosing to go and see her, but the vague comments on financial difficulties coupled with her dismissal of them for the crowd (most of whom were not those most affected by said financial issues) to go and party was a little out of touch.
We loved the use of staging, particularly the moment where she vanished from the main stage, and appeared on a rotating, levitating stage near the back of the arena.
It was here that we really got into the performance. She played two soft ballads accompanied on the stage by an incredible pianist, and as her performance continued, we noticed her full orchestra and backing singers had lined the main stage.
Silhouetted by the back lights, they harmoniously built this layered soundscape which turned a single piano and vocalist into an angelic performance, highlighting Becky’s voice.
And when she returned to the main stage, the crowd had her undivided attention.
She shifted her game and started to play the songs we all remember from our Boardmasters pasts.
Yes, the crowd took a little while to get going, but once back on the main stage, Becky encouraged us to better up our game and put our hands in the air, and jump – we were hers.
And that is the main takeaway. Becky made her gig her own. We felt at one with her, so much so that despite not being the biggest Becky Hill fans in the world, we came out of the venue singing (literally!) her praises, knowing she was one hell of a performer.
Becky Hill lit up Exeter that evening, and we strongly encourage you to try and get tickets for one of the nights on the rest of her tour.
Oh, but only if you are ready for the afterglow…
