An evening with…Imelda May

Actually I was lucky enough to be invited to two nights of Imelda’s ‘Raised on Songs and Stories’ Tour in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. When the tour was first announced, I knew I had to go. Imelda, apart from being an incredible singer, is a great storyteller and fantastic poet in her own right. 

The tour was billed as being stripped back with plenty of songs, conversations and poetry - it was more like an intimate gathering with people she knew rather than a traditional concert. 

The night began with a very pleasant opener from Jawbone, who played an acoustic set including the songs ‘Tide’ and ‘Two Billion Heartbeats’.

The stage was now set for Imelda, which had been beautifully created to look like a vintage living room, with classic furniture, record player and piano - almost how you would remember your grandparents' house growing up. 

Onto the stage walked a man in a bowler hat who picked up a record, put it on the player and placed the needle down. Imelda and her two musicians then came out, greeted the audience in her native tongue and started a haunting version of the Dubliners song “the Rare Auld Times”. It was a fitting start to an evening of looking back and remembering the past, you just knew it was going to be a special evening. 

A few early stories led to an emotional performance of “Meet You at the Moon” before an incredible cover of the Sinead O'connor song “This is to Mother You”. 

As the evening continued, many stories were shared along with poems from her book “A Lick and a Promise”. Imelda's storytelling is captivating and engaging, at no point did she lose the audience's attention and with the gentle support of her musicians she performed every song with great emotion. 

The photography was easy. The lighting was nice, and again I was shooting with my pair of Canon 6D mark II’s with a Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 and a Canon EF 85mm f1.8. I also brought my Sigma 35mm f1.2 for some wide shots since the space between the front of the audience and the stage was quite tight. 

The evening concluded with some of her more frequently played songs, although still stripped back, such as “Rollin’ and Tumblin” and “Johnny Got a Boom Boom” before leaving the stage to a well deserved standing ovation. 

It had been nearly 18 years since I first saw Imelda in her Rockabilly days. Her voice was as good as ever and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to photograph the show.