As part of their first UK headline tour, Caitlin Krisko And The Broadcast arrive at Nottingham to play at the popular live music venue The Bodega. This Edwardian building built in 1902 has provided an intimate location for live music going back decades, and has seen the likes of Coldplay, Artic Monkeys, and Florence And The Machine.
Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast @ The Bodega
They are a four-piece band with Caitlyn’s soulful vocals supplemented with lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums, all working together with flawless dynamism. Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, their sound is a style of classic rock, infused with elements of roots rock and Tamla, ranging from anthemic to balladic. Catchy and danceable throughout. The setlist comprised 14 songs, many from their recently released Blueprints EP, inspired by the unexpected death of Caitlyn’s mother in 2023, and serving as an introspective reflection on the emotional trauma, and includes the heartrending excellence of Haunted By You which Caitlin declared to be her favourite, and reminded me of Aretha Franklin’s (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman in both tempo and vocal delivery.
Her soulful vocal prowess ranged from smooth and tuneful to souring and forceful and complemented their diverse and melodic repertoire, with both bass and lead guitarists providing occasional background vocals.
Caitlin took full advantage of the intimacy of this small venue to create a personal atmosphere and used her skill to project emotional renditions of their songs and successfully hold the attention of the crowd, many attired in their Caitlin tour t shirts.
At one point, and in some sort of unknown symbolic gesture, Krisko got down on her knees and gave long wistful, adoring gaze towards the guitarist during a solo piece and she looked positively angelic and transfixed during this pose.
She dedicated one song, Can’t Find My Way Home, a Blind Faith number penned by Steve Winwood, to her friends back home in Asheville, which has been destroyed by the recent record breaking flood caused by tropical storm Helene, the devastation and loss from which is overwhelming. I later listened to both versions to compare and contrast, and the band most definitely did it justice.
Following their encore, Battle Cry, Caitlin’s closing words emotionally expressed her sincere appreciation of the love and warmth of the crowd, she also tantalisingly suggested they would likely return to the UK in 2025 for another headlining tour.
She left the crowd suitably stirred and with a comfortable gratification that could only have been instilled by the cosy intimacy of this small venue. A great job was also done by the support act LYDA, who suitably primed and roused the crowd ready for Krisko. They are a duo with a minimalistic stage presence but a big joyful sound, that comprise supremely soulful besuited songstress and her talented sidekick, skilfully accompanying her on his acoustic guitar while providing occasional vocal support. They prompted the crowd to join in and sing along, and the crowd happily obliged.
This tour terminates in Bristol ending their 6.5 week stint on the road, then they’ll fly back home to help their community rebuild. Having personally not been aware of the development of this genre of music into the modern age, I was pleasantly surprised to witness it is alive and well and popular and being expertly promoted and steered towards a new generation of appreciative fans in this band’s capable hands.
Live review & photography of Caitlin Krisko And The Broadcast and LYDA at The Bodega, Nottingham on 2nd October 2024 by Kieran Atkinson
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