By Michael MacLennan
Regina Spektor’s in dazzling form in King Tut's Wah Wah Tent, and I don’t mean literally, even if she is wearing a sparkling black top that shimmers under the spotlight...
The singer, pianist and all-round musical genius looks set to transcend her status as cult icon and transform into a fully fledged mainstream star with new album Far, and she played a well chosen set heavily dependent on her most recent collection of superlative songs.
On Laughing With she sings about no-one laughing at God (apart from on some select occasions), though it’s little mystery that people dare not even indulge themselves in a solitary chuckle at our Holy Father when Regina Spektor’s playing – everyone's too busy thanking their lucky stars for the miraculous sight they’re witnessing.
The New Yorker’s joined by a trio of talented musicians for most of the tracks, though when she sees fit Regina reverts to her previously favoured solo set-up.
Sensitive sing-a-long Samson is so beautifully delicately rendered – lyrically it seems to be a love song by Delilah to her previously long-haired lover – that it garners rapturous applause even before the song’s end, and she's long since won over the audience by the time the show ends.
The lovely Regina finishes with a country song - even though she’s from New York and we’re from Scotland but it makes sense anyway, as she explains to us - before riding off into the sunset. It’s a happy ending highly merited by such a fantastic show, though if only I could join her on the journey the …
