Michael Hann

A giddy delight: Regina Spektor, at the Royal Festival Hall reviewed

Plus: at the Windmill Brixton a deliciously austere new band who are ungoogleable

Spektor's voice could be an intimate whisper, or a commanding mezzo soprano, and its tone communicated her intent as much as her words 
issue 29 July 2023

We’ll get on to the brilliance of Regina Spektor in a moment. But first a question: why are pop music fans treated so abysmally? The afternoon of Spektor’s second sold-out show at the Royal Festival Hall, the venue tweeted that she would be on stage at 7.30 p.m. She actually took to the stage a few minutes past 8 o’clock.

Spektor was absolutely magnificent once she did come on. She filled the room with charisma, charm and wit

If that were a one-off, so be it. But anyone who goes to a lot of shows is familiar with how malleable the concept of stage-time is in pop music. Lana Del Rey had her Glastonbury set cut short because she was so late coming on – apparently she was having her hair done. It’s maddening. Why can they not meet their call times? No one going to see The Motive and the Cue is kept waiting because Mark Gatiss is playing Candy Crush in his dressing room.

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