Amy Macdonald at the Eventim Apollo

Three things about Amy. She's gone blonde, gone acoustic and still as brilliant as ever. Her "Woman of the World" tour kicked off last night at the Eventim Apollo, always in my heart as the Odeon Hammersmith. I saw her in 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall and before that in October 2010 at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. This time she has dumped the electric guitars and drums and instead we have a five piece backing band playing acoustic guitars, piano, an upright double bass, violin and cello.

I think at the start it was hard to get the sound balance right. We could hardly hear the string section, and then the bass became too loud. But once the sound mixer and our ears had become attuned, the music suited most of Amy's songs. All nineteen of them are on setlist.fm. Obviously, the uptempo tracks receive the best reaction: Mr Rock and Roll, Dream On and the very last song Poison Prince. Then there were a couple of songs where she plays guitar with just the piano and a violin, Don't Tell Me That It's Over being the best. Here she really shines. The voice as great as ever.

The song before the break (as it always is) was What Happiness Means to Me. Amy sings this slow emotional ballad for around three minutes and then (surprisingly and unusually) she left the stage. But we are left with the band and after the last lyrics fades I still heard that wonderful intro to the three minutes of the fast instrumental at the end. This is the ultimate clap along song with that fantastic Celtic beat. And this strange acoustic band took us there, the sound they created rocked the Apollo. Magic.

Just a word about the journey (for future reference). Going by car, the M40/A40 was busy but kept moving, so I was parking at Westfield White City in an hour and a quarter. Somehow I entered the wrong car park and ended in the one for John Lewis. But having parked close to lift lobby 9, I was soon at the exit and surprisingly close to Wood Lane Underground. A short wait for a train (plenty of seats) and three stops to Hammersmith Broadway, very close to the Apollo. A quick bite in Pret a Manger and still made it for the support. Coming home it was even easier, one hour fifteen minutes door to door. Expensive parking, but safe, quiet and so close to the A40. Perfect.