Thekla, Bristol 25th March 2022
Michigan singer-songwriter, Curits Harding, has been on an extensive European tour since February.
Tonight is the second night of a sold out run of UK shows.
As is customary for Thekla on a Friday, it’s an early show so that they can clear us all off the boat before the 10pm club night. This always seems to catch people off guard and when the band take to the stage shortly after 8pm, the crowd is sparse with many still in the bar queues.
The second song played, “Can’t Hide It”, is probably the breakout single from Harding’s third album “If Words Were Flowers”. It received a lot of play on BBC 6 Music last year and that’s evident from the reaction in the crowd. The floor begins to fill up and the dancing begins. It’s a tight and accomplished performance.
Harding’s songs are like old friends – every track on the setlist soundslike a classic. His voice warm, rich & identical to the recorded versions & his band are polished & funky.
Curtis explains that the support has had to pull out due to illness and he’s also feeling “under the weather” but is “still here”. An audience member shouts that he’ll “still be brilliant” and a grin beams beneath his sunglasses as he retorts “I’m always brilliant, baby” There are moments where parts of the crowd are a bit too chatty and this is not lost on Harding. He steps back from the mic to give the audience a moment to get their Friday night catchups out of their systems before resuming.
An even mix of songs from all three of his records follows with “I Won’t Let You Down” and “Need Your Love” generating particularly rapturous responses from the Bristol crowd. He makes several references to not feeling too well and a glimpse of the printed setlist on the floor shows a number of songs crossed out suggesting that some last minute changes made before he hit the stage. On the Euro tour, he’s regularly been playing 20-25 songs per show but tonight’s it is all over in 60 minutes.
Just as the crowd felt properly warmed up, he bids us goodbye with “remember, Curtis Harding ill is still great”.
He’s not wrong, Wishing Curtis a speedy recovery
Ryan Simmonds 
Craig J Simmonds Media
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