In Love and in the Midst Of Katie Gregson-MacLeod

Katie Gregson-Macleod starts her show at the OMEARA with an apology. She is sick, her voice is gone and she needs our help. My girlfriend (the best singer I know) and I (the worst) are trembling with excitement in our front-row position. Not only can we pour our hearts and voice into every song on the setlist, we are being tasked to do so. 

Being there reminds me that concerts with Katie generally don’t feel like concerts. Rather, they resemble a small, cosy pub get-together where that one friend who can sing incredibly well would jump onto the stage to showcase it. Katie jumps, and the crowd, tasked and ready to go, dives into the first song with her. 

I’m Worried it Will Always Be You is lyricism engulfed by relationship angst and disappointment, a brilliant opener. But, I’m holding my girlfriend’s hand as piano notes drift around us and the words don’t resonate. As her hands press on ivory keys, Katie’s initial apology becomes meaningless as the music blends with her gentle, folk-tinged voice. It demanded to be listened to, and people oblige by singing along, but quietly, respectfully. 

Katie makes her skills known on the guitar for the next four songs, all from her new EP Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early. Before she begans, Katie confesses that the whole album is dedicated to one person, and her song ‘James’ is even named after him. The EP moves away from the relationship drama which popularised her earlier music and each song is its own musical love-letter.  Poetic yet simple, ‘Mosh Pit’  finishes: “I could have watched you forever/ But forever ends so soon”. In ‘Chess’, Katie jokingly mentions “riding on the 29” with her lover at which point my girlfriend and I sing louder. Every so often, after dinner at Seven Dials Market, scavenging Urban Outfitters and buying ice cream, we get the 29 home. I can picture us taking it through Camden as her head rests on my shoulder. We are full, bags of new clothes are scattered around us and I’m the happiest girl in the world. That bus ride could last forever and it would not be long enough.

For ‘White Lies’, a song that recently hit 5 million streams on Spotify, Katie returns to her piano stool and a brilliant white light beams behind her. As the high notes reach her aching throat, she shakes her head and grimaces. The flaws mean more to her than they do to the people listening. 

The concert nears its end and two hit songs fill the stage, ‘Teenage Love’ and ‘Complex’. Here, the crowd sings louder than they have all evening and Katie appreciatively points the microphone towards us. People are crying, relating to lyrics like “I cry in his bathroom/ he turns off the big light” and I loop my arm around my girlfriend’s waist as we listen together, holding each other. 

Had I not known the setlist, I would have thought the concert finished there. However, Katie decides to pick up her guitar once again and ends with the titular song of her new EP. While her popularity is still tied to songs like ‘Complex’ and ‘Teenage Love’, this EP is an ode to her healthiest, safest relationship yet: “Changing what my mouth and my hands are good for/ holding up your head is their only task”. Katie fights against what record labels want from her and finds peace in writing about what makes her happy. Ending the concert with ‘Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early’ sets this in stone. 

The line “I think I’ll call it love” completes the performance and the room erupts in applause and very British whoops. 

We leave, snatch the setlist on our way out and duck into a photobooth. As the third flash goes off, I grab my girlfriend’s face, kiss her, and that’s the only task I’ll ever need to know.

All of the above images were taken by the author at Katie Gregson-MacLeod’s recent concert at the OMEARA, 20th October. They show in order, Katie at her piano, the concert venue entrance with her title card, Katie at her piano and friend Lizzie Reed passionately performing, and Katie at her piano alone once again.