Laura Marling, Aberdeen Tunnels

It’s been 9 months since Laura Marling’s initially underrated debut album ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’ first crept onto the music scene, creating no more than a blip to your average Ting Tings fan. But those willing to delve into her world of dark folk and beautiful lyrics, found an amazing album, bar a few songs (mostly off her early EPs). However, since this album’s Mercury Prize nomination a few months back, Laura’s popularity has been increasing with speed, and tonight the feeling is that this show, her first in Aberdeen, is more Laura’s than headliner Malcolm Middleton’s.

Laura takes to the stage slightly later than expected to a packed, welcoming crowd. There are a few people who may have suffered from the late stage time by drinking a little too much (the gig was sponsored by Tennents) and interrupting the hushed atmosphere, but for the most part the crowd was great.

The singer and her new backing band open with popular single ‘Ghosts’, before introducing said new band to polite applause from the crowd. She played all the singles from the album, including new one, and set highlight, ‘Night Terror’. However, she also played a couple of B-Sides, including fan favourite ‘Blackberry Stone’, which for a set of only 7 songs, was perhaps not the best idea. Indeed, when Laura announced that ‘Cross Your Fingers’ was to be the last song of the night, it seemed to take the whole audience by surprise. Maybe it was just that she made the time pass so quickly, but even for a support slot the set seemed rushed, and could’ve definitely done with some beefing up by album tracks like ‘Old Stone’ or ‘Your Only Doll’.

Nevertheless, what is played by the young singer is rapturously received by the crowd, and we can only hope that one day she’ll come back, maybe more mature with another album under her belt, and play a more substantial set, hopefully to an even larger crowd.