Regina Spektor

It is often considered that fans in the South of England are far less receptive than their Northern counterparts. Given her stunned reaction to her audience throughout the evening, it is unlikely that Regina Spektor would subscribe to this theory.

The New York resident's slow ascent into the big time following years of hard graft on the club circuit is a heart-warming tale, with her latest album 'Far' cementing her status as one of the finest songwriters around, almost 10 years after self-releasing her debut album. Whilst Spektor's endearingly idiosyncratic style and delivery prevent her from becoming a major mainstream concern, her bashful demeanour has the sold-out Apollo crowd hanging on her every word.

Accompanied by a small band, the opening three songs are all taken from the new album, and are all greeted like old friends, with the new single 'Eet' being one of the most well received songs of the evening. Despite having to halt proceedings in order to resolve tuning issues with her grand piano, Spektor appeared to grow more and more comfortable with her surroundings as the evening wore on, and began to delve into her ever-expanding back catalogue, with older fan favourites such as 'Ode To Divorce' and 'On The Radio' invoking wild reactions from her enraptured fans.

Following the high of potential future hit 'Dance Anthem of the 80's', the evening took a fascinating turn, with Spektor's accompanying band leaving the stage, allowing her,and more importantly, her voice to take centre stage.

At this point, she unleashes a series of lesser-known tracks: the expletive-ridden 'Bobbing For Apples' and the hilarious 'Silly Eye Colour Generalisations', an acapella performance which in spite of its surreal lyricism, highlights just what a remarkable vocal talent Spektor possesses. The remainder of her set proved to be an intimate affair despite the grandiose surroundings, with the raw emotion injected into 'Apres-Moi' and 'Human Of The Year' making both songs obvious highlights of the evening.

Whilst the main set had primarily been an opportunity to showcase her latest album, the encore was reserved for undisputed fan favourites such as 'Samson' and 'Us', both of which had the audience begging for more. Leaving the stage to deafening applause following the upbeat 'Love, You're A Whore', it became clear that whilst Spektor may not be a commercial hit by any means, there's no denying she's definitely a star.

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