Amy MacDonald, Symphony Hall, Birmingham - review

On a sell-out tour promoting another hit album, her beaming smile lights up the Symphony Hall almost as much as her music.

There are jokes too. There is confident between-song chat. There's a razor sharp, six-piece backing band; all very hipster, beards and black outfits.

There are spangly, rock'n'roll boots (on the singer, not the reviewer).

But most of all, there is the music.

It always says a lot about an artist if they are happy enough – or brave enough – to throw in some of their best numbers early on in a set. But Amy MacDonald has matured into one of Britain's top singer-songwriters, so she can afford to show off a little.

Hence 'Mr Rock'n'Roll' and 'Spark' make early appearances, lifting pockets of the audience to their feet for a quick bop in the aisles.

The singer picks out the crowd's early dancers and thanks them for being the first on their feet.

By the end of the night, she had no problem spotting the risers as the entire crowd was up and away, carried along by one uplifting folky, rocky, ballsy tune after another.

'Poison Prince' had many on their feet, closely followed by new single 'Automatic' amid a perfectly-paced section that began with 'Run' and ended with 'Life in a Beautiful Light'.

Sandwiched in between were 'This is the Life' and the haunting 'Never Too Late'. The only downside in a venue lauded for its fantastic acoustics was the messy sound mix on the heavier numbers that saw even the singer's powerful voice struggle to be heard at times. On the slower, acoustic numbers the vocals were clean and crisp though, exactly as they should be.

Still, nobody seemed to mind and the audience – made up of quite a few outrageously over 50 – lapped it up all night. One or two of the younger people even got quite hysterical in their love for the Scottish songstress.

The youth of today, eh?

By Keith Harrison