This sold out show from The Voice alumni, Becky Hill, was originally listed for last October but was one of a handful of dates rescheduled due to what she jokingly described tonight as “tactical laryngitis”.
She’s backed by a full live band and backing singers (one of whom, Lovelle, was tonight’s opening act) and brings her own lighting rig which just about fits onto Thekla’s modest stage.
Becky was 18 years old when she took part in the TV talent competition, The Voice, back in 2012. Since then, she’s carved out a reputation as a featured powerhouse vocalist on a string of big dance hits which are all rapturously received tonight.
She opens with criminally underrated solo cuts Rude Love and Losing which, fortunately, are more popular with tonight’s audience than with the general public. Her enormous vocals threaten to drown out the entire band; Hill was famously loud on The Voice and nothing has changed at all. She’s an incredibly self-assured singer and she really only has one level – relentlessly loud and husky – it’s a wonder she doesn’t have laryngitis more often!
MK’s Piece of Me is the first of the big hits played tonight and that colossal voice is almost matched by the response from the crowd. An unreleased track, Fall In Love Again, follows which Becky explains she wrote with London DJ, Shift K3y. She’s keen to release this as a single and asks if there are any record label executives in the audience; it’s a shame that there isn’t because this is a monumental, 90s influenced dance track with clear streaming potential.
There are no ballads or mid tempos tonight – it’s 50 minutes or so of unabating dance bangers with Becky Hill not taking her foot off the gas at any point. She’s an endearing personality; her on stage banter leaves much to be desired but it’s hard not to fall for her raw and awkward charm. Her live show may have become more polished but she hasn’t changed much from the garrulous girl that graced our screens 7 years ago.
More gigantic hits ensue – Afterglow, False Alarm and her “one and only Number 1” Gecko (Overdrive) all assist in making tonight feel like one of the festival dance tents that she will be gracing this Summer. There’s no encore and the set concludes with her most recent hit, MK and Jonas Blue collaboration Back and Forth.
We suspect that Hill has become quite used to singing over backing tracks at nightclub PAs and so she could use a little practice at blending with her live band but she has certainly found her lane musically. With more dance hits to come like her next single, I Could Get Used To This (which she dedicated to her partner in the audience), her live show is just going to get bigger and better in time.
