Corinne is understandably a little short of the finished live article yet. A packed Junction responded encouragingly to the silky vocals on ‘Like a Star', ‘Breathless' and ‘Enchantment', but perhaps Corinne's jazz-soul style is better suited to more intimate, seated venues. In turn her version of Led Zeppelin's ‘Since I've Been Loving You,' was hardly a rocker; nevertheless it was a personal, compelling rendition.

Corinne has an engaging, unaffected stage personality, but doesn't as yet possess the confidence and maturity of Norah Jones, with whom she's often compared. This will surely come with another album. Even so 75 minutes including encore is a pretty short set. Some more Led Zeppelin might have been a possibility.

There's a short time before Corinne Bailey Rae will fully arrive in concert. But I've no doubt she will, and I look forward to being there when she does.

Writer: Mark Dobbin

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