“No one’s got to rush off anywhere, do they?” RAYE checks with her audience, who respond with a hearty roar. The pop artist born Rachel Keen is hosting the first night of her biggest UK tour to date, at the Co-Op Live in Manchester. As always, there’s an air of spontaneity to proceedings – RAYE, our Grammy and Brit Award-winning star, loves an ad-lib, an anecdote, an extra vocal run. Yet the concert itself is a triumph for one of the most extraordinary musicians the UK has produced in years, one in which raw talent meets technical brilliance, and prowess and professionalism collide with high-spirited gaiety.
Since releasing her 2023 debut album, the Mercury Prize-shortlisted My 21st Century Blues, RAYE has steadily leant further into her jazz and blues influences. Her fantastic live band is here, with a dedicated brass section who ramp up the drama. Indeed, “I’m in my dramatic era,” she declares, and you wonder why the James Bond producers bother looking anywhere else, when the perfect 007 artist is right in front of us.
