Rachel Collis is a singer songwriter and has just released her debut album Ever After. She is classically trained on Piano and vocals, both of which were outstanding. She has a strong, gutsy voice and a wide vocal range. She performed with a band consisting of Keyboard/ Percussion, Drums, Bass (double bass and guitar) and Trumpet. All the musicians were excellent.
Rachel's repertoire varied from amusing to melancholy. All the songs were well written and there was plenty of variety to adequately show Rachel's vocal and keyboard talents, along with the bands! The evening started well with a few light hearted uplifting songs to warm up the audience. One of the first songs is called Column B which is about people who all love something but what they love isn't always appreciated by the rest of society. I did think, because of the themes in some of the songs, like Pour Me a Glass of Wine and This Old House that Rachel had been unlucky in love and marriage. However, at the end of the evening after singing Song for Steve, which she wrote for her husband, he appears and plays guitar in one of the songs.
Everybody enjoy the evening, however, you could noticeably feel the mood drop towards the end as Rachel sang several sad songs in a row and instead of bringing the band back to pick up the pace and the audience's mood, she ended with a solo. I would go and see her again because on the whole I did enjoy her music and I would like to see what she does next.
You can find her album on the itune store under Rachel Collis.
