Live Review: Caity Baser – Academy 3, Manchester, 23/09/2022
New and upcoming artist Caity Baser, has well and truly smashed her Manchester Academy 3 leg of her short, but sweet 2-date headline shows out the park.
The born and bred Southampton pop artist was greeted with a tonne of fame, quite literally overnight, after posting a catchy tune on TikTok. This has since led to verified social media accounts and over 500k followers across her platforms.
The 20-year-old announced her 2 dates at Islington and Manchester Academy presented by Live Nation. After what looked like a phenomenal show at O2 Academy Islington, she was met with a sold-out show at Manchester’s Academy 3. Small intimate venues are usually the best types of gigs for crowd interaction, but no one has ever done it the way Baser did this night.
Kicking off the night with the well thought out support act, Michael Aldag, fellow TikTok musician, the mood was well and truly set. With his poignant track ‘Tonsillitis’ Aldag had the crowd evidently emotionally moved, with the entire venue holding up their torches in unison.
After the support, the entire venue was quite clearly ready for Caity to take the stage, with a rush of excitement around everyone.
Imagine you are at a party and someone there is extremely talented and ends up being the nights entertainment, this was the exact mood of this gig. From the get-go, Caity and her two-piece girl band used that small stage to their advantage.
Running on to the stage and being greeted with massive uproar, Caity wasted no time, and opened the show with ‘Say It Like That’. It was crystal clear that the room fuelled with fangirls, of all ages, had the energy levels ready for the remainder of the evening.
Unlike other ‘TikTok Sensations’ Caity Baser is definitely not the one hit wonder artist, with every one of her 12 set songs being sang right back to her. Even the two new tunes she performed landed perfectly well with the crowd.
Between every song, Caity managed to connect with those in the venue. She insisted on taking pictures and videos on fans phones whilst performing all night. At one point the feel of the concert was like if a comedy club and music venue collaborated. It is without a shadow of a doubt that Baser knows how to run a show and unbelievably effortlessly too.
After a few catchy cheerful tunes, the mood was brought to a more serious and emotive feel. Introducing the song ‘Virtually’ by saying “shall we get a little bit sad” the feel of the crowd instantly changed. The heart-rending ballad, keeping with the theme of boys breaking girls’ hearts, had the crowd in tears, with many people holding their friends tight and swaying back and forth. It was beautiful to hear the full potential of Baser’s vocals throughout this tune. Again, unlike many artists in the industry nowadays, her live vocals sound no different to the recorded tracks, which is so refreshing to hear.
The entirety of the night was sensational, the highlight had to be during the encore in which Caity had the whole crowd in chorus for 5+ million streamed single ‘Friendly Sex’. Had to of been the most perfect ending to an overall great night, with the liveliness continuing right until the very last second.
This year has been sensational for Caity Baser, after performing at Reading and Leeds, being spotted by NME and keeping her reign in the UK top 40. After this headline gig, it is evident that this fame is not going to be short lived. We will be hearing a lot more from her, seeing a lot more shows across Europe in bigger venues. I believe everyone who attended this gig would say the same thing and that would be that, this gig was next to none. No one does it quite like Caity Baser and if you can attend one of her future gigs, do not hesitate.
Words by Lucy Holden
Photography by Amy Moran
