Den Atelier, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
9th April 2019
Amy Macdonald
Although the A was completely sold out, the last “Woman of the World” concert of the AMY MACDONALD tour on Tuesday night in unplugged mode created a personal atmosphere. AMY MACDONALD has been famous since the age of 18, when she burst in to the charts with a debut album, ‘This Is The Life’, that bore the hallmarks of her homeland Scotland. Rootsy Folk-Rock might describe it, or just gutsy Pop played on real instruments. There were no tricks or trying to keep up with trends. Live, AMY MACDONALD didn’t need dancers, props or expensive light shows. Her image was as honest as her songs, in which real tales of real lives became stomping sing-alongs.
Music & Performance
The A was completely sold out for this concert, which was under the motto “Woman of the World” and followed a concept that is best known by the music television station MTV under the name “Unplugged”: Instead of an electric band, AMY MACDONALD was accompanied by musicians who almost exclusively brought acoustic instruments. This gave the singer’s most famous songs a whole new look. A cello, two violins and a piano provided a string atmosphere and of course also the guitars were acoustic. The unplugged look really suited to the songs of the Scottish woman, who always had a folk-country touch. Some songs like the emotional ballad ‘Woman Of The World’ even seemed completely new, because they made AMY MACDONALD’s haunting voice standing out even more. 
The dream ballad ‘Rise & Fall’ also succeeded beautifully, while ‘Never Too Late’ unfolded its haunting power, when Amy only turned up her voice accompanied by the piano. Of course the 31-year-old also had time to talk to the audience between her songs. For example, Amy mentioned how much she likes to play in the A, because it’s a small and intimate location she wouldn’t miss, even after the offer that the concert could be moved to the Rockhal. She also told the crowd that her suitcase broke the last time she was in Luxembourg and had to buy a new one here. The latter would still accompany her and so she always carry a piece of Luxembourg with her. But her roots are in Scotland and this could be seen in the third song ‘Pride’. For the audience, ‘Pride’ was a good mood song in which, for the first time, nearly every fan clapped to the rhythm.
‘Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over’ developed its own style through the acoustic set. Accentuated by piano and violins, strong emotions permeated the melody, which, unlike the original, seemed much calmer and more carried. ‘Give It All Up’ also had a completely new effect with its delicately played melody, an even stronger contrast to the powerful voice of AMY MACDONALD, which occupied the entire space of the A. The opulent sound is also the perfect setting for the power ballad ‘Down By The Water’, which ends quietly at the end, carried by great vocal power, before the applause starts to be loud as never before on this evening. When the first notes of ‘This Is The Life’ sounded though the A, the audience was immediately excited: dancing, singing and jumping with the energetic melody. It was pure fun that lasted until the encore with the Feel Good song ‘Life In A Beautiful Light’. Finally, the energetic ‘Poison Prince’ happily leaved the audience into the night.
Setlist
01. Woman of the World
02. Spark
03. Pride
04. The Rise & Fall
05. Never Too Late
06. Mr. Rock and Roll
07. Leap of Faith
08. Dream On
09. Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over
10. Give it all up
11. Down by the Water
12. Automatic
13. Run
14. This is the Life
15. What Happiness means to me
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16. Left That Body Long Ago
17. Life in a Beautiful Light
18. Poison Prince
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
All pictures by Elena Arens
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