Katy B

By Lucy Jayne-Copley

Kathleen Brien, a dubstep/R&B/pop artist more commonly known by her stage-name Katy B, took to The Refectory of Leeds University on the 7th of May, fresh from supporting Tinie Tempah on his own tour. The 21-year-old from Peckham has achieved three top 10 hits with her debut album ‘On A Mission’ which reached the number 2 spot in the charts.

Being late to come on stage, the crowd became restless and chants of “Katy! Katy! Katy!” rang through the building, until erupting into a huge round of screams and applause as Katy herself finally appeared. Opening with ‘Louder’ – a non-album track – Katy instantly had the crowd in the palm of her hand, getting them to join in by shouting the words back to her. Following up the opening with her latest single, pop track ‘Broken Record’, there’s no time for rest where Katy’s concerned. The entire crowd jumps up and down in unison, hands in the air and the drinks flowing; extremely reminiscent of a ‘night down the town’.

Taking a small breather, Katy announces that she’s excited to be in Leeds and can’t wait to see what they have to show her. The crowd erupts once more and Katy moves on with two more album tracks, ‘Power On Me’ and ‘Movement’. Both are strong live tracks with the audience well and truly pleased, singing along word for word.

Continuing her thrilling high energy set, Katy B launches into ‘Witches Brew’ encouraging the crowd to sing the words back to her. Evidently the crowd favourite, ‘Katy On A Mission’ not only encourages the crowd to sing back to her, the entire chorus being sung by the audience members alone, but the standing area seemingly transforms into a club dance floor with people dancing, jumping and spilling drinks on each other.

Following with ‘Disappear’ which, despite being an amazing studio track, wasn’t quite done justice by the live performance. Some elements of the song which make it a strong studio track had to be dropped for the performance and as a result dragged it down. Not to worry though, as ‘Easy Please Me’ brings the performance right back up to the standard Katy’s kept going throughout the whole set so far.

Into the encore and as Katy walks off stage the crowd continue to go wild, eager and waiting for more. A few seconds later, Katy and her band launch into ‘Lights On’. Another sing-a-long anthem as the crowd give it their all for the last song of the night. Katy shouts her thanks and exclaims the crowd have been wonderful, basking in the post-show buzz before bounding off the side of the stage with a huge grin plastered on her face, leaving the audience chattering loudly and making their way, whilst stumbling, out of the building.

Katy B put on an incredible performance and it’s obvious to see that she’s passionate about what she does and is eager to please her fans.