Woomble and Delf offer a rare Double bill

Posted on 10th May 2023

Founding member and lead vocalist of Idlewild, Roddy Woomble, is currently touring on own, albeit with a little help from his friend and fellow band member Andrew Mitchell on keyboards and guitar. In a relaxed and intimate evening he showcased his solo work, as well as squeezing in a few hits from the Idlewild songbook.

Before Woomble took to the stage, however, the Corn Hall had an extra treat in store – local singer-songwriter Eliza Delf gave a remarkably self-assured performance given this was only her second live outing. Accompanied by three members of her Wilderness Collective on guitar, cello and percussion, Delf offered up six songs from her debut album Into The Wilderness, all of which ranged from good to very good indeed. Comparisons with Kate Bush, given her distinctive vocal range, are inevitable, but I’d suggest the likes of Regina Spektor or Irwin Sparkes of the Hoosiers are a closer match for this preternaturally talented performer.

Roddy Woomble shuffled unassumingly on stage after the break, before kicking off with a couple of songs from his solo album, and appeared relaxed to the point of distraction. Amiably chatting to the crowd about the origins of Diss, before cherry picking from his and Idlewild’s back catalogue, this was a pleasingly low key affair. His acoustic guitar was deployed for a couple of tunes, most notably Waverley Steps, but for the most part Andrew Mitchell provided the backing. American English, Little Discourage and The Universe Is On My Side were all presented in stripped down versions that stood up remarkably well. Occasionally, Mitchell switched on the drum machine, but Woomble has a fine voice that it was best showcased by minimal backing, as the encore of Scottish Fiction ably demonstrated. Sometimes less is genuinely more.