Fresh off the bat of her new critically acclaimed album Goddess, the delightful and boisterous singer that is Banks was playing the last leg of her tour in Manchester at The Ritz, The Noise Gate went to see how it went down.
The last time she played in Manchester was opening up for The Weeknd at The Apollo and it was certainly to a crowd of fewer people right at the start of the night, this time round, she’d managed to pack out The Ritz and the people there to see her were of a different nature too.
She’s now developed her own fan base, with their own style and arguably a lots changed in that year she played The Apollo in 2013, having the last time only a hand full of singles such as ‘Waiting Game’, ‘Bedroom Wall’ and ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ which had just been released a few weeks before.
Now it’s 2014 and those latter singles with help from radio play, SoundCloud and being produced and shared and remixed a ton of times by some exceptionally talented artists such as TEED, Lil Silva and SOHN, got her some popular notches, went viral and have completely taken her to the next level. They also helped the momentum to release ‘Goddess’ the album which again with singles produced by some awesome talent, her darkened love story lyrics and AGAIN crafting more and more remixes… try this one out for a gritty belter, all of which means Banks got bigger and has more to play with.
Strolling out like she was modelling for Vogue, Banks came to the stage with a strong yet fragilely soft aura, shouts and screams came from everywhere in the building. Playing everything from her first big hit singles mentioned earlier, to clear fan favourites like ‘Goddess’ and ‘Begging For Thread’, with brazenly love and lust stoked lyrics reigning from Banks as she moved about the stage, it seemed she didn’t need to sing…because every time she pulled the mic to the crowd, her fans were singing every word with hip abandon.
A highlight of the evening was when the Shlohmo-produced ‘Brain’ came rattling out of the speakers, another moment when adoring fans were singing right back to Banks. Thanking the crowd for coming along before making a quick exit, everyone knew she’d be back, the people inside The Ritz stomping on the floor and chanting until she did. Banks came back out to do two more tracks, one of which was a Drake cover of ‘Too Much’ that seemed to take a less serious tone, diverting the audience to having a bit of fun singing the Sampha hooks.
Making a few final bows, Banks made her exit to a really warm applause and even taking a gift from one of the audience, overall a good performance.
@gentcollective
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