Live Review: Will Troy, Molly Payton, and Cat Burns - Courtyard Theatre, London 02/12/2022
Three singer-songwriters - Will Troy, Molly Payton, and Cat Burns - brought different styles to Thursday’s new music night Whiplash.
Compere Gemma Bradley led the crowd through the night at Hoxton’s Courtyard Theatre, which showcased several different ways to deliver strong songwriting and performing.
Opener Will Troy’s soulful voice left an impression that resonated long after the conclusion of his four-song set.
The 18-year-old switched back and forth between his Nord and a guitar. The keys were used to create beautiful melodies which illuminated tracks ‘Something About Stars’ and ‘Mercy’, while closing track ‘Artwork’ showed off the power in some of Will’s acoustic songs, tinged with a little more sadness.
Molly Payton said she was “nervous” during her first solo show in two years. It didn’t show in a solid performance which got her hardcore fans at the front swaying along, while undoubtedly winning new fans in the process.
Opening with ‘Corduroy’ from her debut EP ‘Mess’, she performed a mixture of songs. It included the opportunity to play stuff she doesn’t with her usual band, as she explained while introducing the acoustic-driven ‘I’m Too Smart’ from her second EP ‘Porcupine’.
There were also three songs from the October mini album ‘Slack’. Molly said her favourite was ‘You Cut Me So Much Slack’, before performing it bathed in psychedelic-style stage lighting. Ending on mini album opener ‘Honey’, Molly proved herself alone, with a bright 2022 on the horizon.
Cat Burns had a busy two years since her last gig, and from the opening notes of ‘Long Life’, it filled every moment of the set, alongside her strong vocals and adorable personality. Second track ‘Death Bed’ brimmed with big ambition, especially when the all-female backing band kicked into gear.
She was sometimes armed with an acoustic guitar, such as on the showstopper ‘Go’, which many in the audience knew after it became popular on TikTok around its release last summer. She hoped the crowd would know it, but the sight of them singing back still caught her off guard, and left her emotional. “I’m going to pull myself together,” she said afterwards. “We’re professionals here.”
The 30-minute set was brought to a finish with ‘To Be Loved’, dedicated to her partner, and ‘Free’, another highlight, with a strong groove beneath lyrics about her feelings after coming out in 2020.
The crowd’s support saw Cat re-emerge from the dressing room behind the stage for an unplanned encore. Without a plan, she opted for a solo reprise of ‘Go’ – cueing another singalong, particularly that infectious chorus: “I’ll sing it loud in case you don’t already know, pack up your shit and go, go, go, go.”
It’s impossible to see anything other than huge success for Cat – a definite star in the making. With Will and Molly too – for very different reasons – it could be a constellation.
Words by Samuel Draper
