Duffy

Hailing from the teeny-tiny town of Nefyn, North Wales herself, Duffy must be applauded for staying true to her Welsh roots and choosing to perform in Wrexham.
So many acts snub the biggest town in North Wales in favour of playing the token cities in the South like Cardiff, not realising actually Wales is a big ol’ country and that north and south Wales are actually hundreds and hundreds of miles away from each other.

So thankfully for us she stopped by on her tour of the UK and having recently come second in the BBC’s Sound of 2008 list, when music critics and broadcasters were asked for their favourite new artists of the year, tonight here in the sold out sweat box of Central Station, the Welsh soul singer showcases exactly why that was and what all the fuss is about.

Stepping on the stage, simply dressed with a 6 piece band in tow, Duffy introduces herself, talks to us in a little bit of Welsh and slides straight into a blissful opening performance of 'Rockferry’, the title track off her debut album. With this show being only the second Duffy has played since the album was released on Monday, the crowd already know the words to almost every track she plays.

The set-list is generally a pitch-perfect run through of the album with the inclusion of 'Breaking My Own Heart’, which is available as a free download. The delightful yet haunting 'Syrup and Honey’ is probably the stand out track of the evening, her amazing six-piece band is stripped down to just her and guitarist Jon Green and you can almost see the goose bumps and hairs on the necks of the crowd standing on edge.

Duffy is everything the press have built her up to be. Her voice is ethereal and full of soul and belies her mere 24 years. When it comes to breaks in songs, she charms the crowd with her genuine, unfussy nature and witty personality and it’s clear she will not be playing venues of this size for much longer. Truly stunning.