Jill Jackson

A warm and sunny evening in Birmingham saw the 'Get Away Driver' Tour take a pit stop in Birmingham.

One of the last few dates on the tour I was glad I made the effort to try and get tickets and passes sorted; it took me two months of messing about before everything was arranged courtesy of a lovely lady at Mean Fiddler.

Tonight the gig was in the smallest room at the HMV Institute in Digbeth, not my favourite room as the lighting is always poor and it's like seeing a gig in a sardine can. We manage to get there at a reasonable time and managed to snag a wicked space to stage right, right on the barrier, wicked for me taking snaps.

There's never a pit that's accessible for a human being in this little room, so you have to make do and mend.

T-shirts were a reasonable £15, Jackson sported one tonight which she had done some handy work too, a pair of scissors works wonders!

Tonight was all about the 'Get Away Driver' album, we were quite excited as we haven't seen the Scottish Songstress for quite a while now, very naughty I know, our last gig was up in Glasgow at The Ferry, so we were both ready to explode with excitement.

The support act was a tad forgettable, no-one was paying attention, a lot of pre-gig chatter and about one or two claps before the poor guy went off stage with his tail between his legs.

Tonight was all about Scottish hotty Jill Jackson. Ex-Speedway front-women Jackson is one thing, very talented, and tonight showed this in abundance.

Backed my an amazing band, Lorna Thomas on Bass and Backing Vocals, Frazzle (to his friends) on lead Guitar, (Bloody hell he can play that guitar) and the wonderful Lisa Tring on drums. Very tight and the whole band really gelled together.

A 15 song set which showcased songs from Jackson's back catalogue including hits from previous album 'Back to Zero' and new album 'Get Away Driver'. I must admit to not being the proud owner of the new Jackson album, so tonight was gonna be a big surprise for me, Christ almighty, my socks were well and truly blown off.

The show was titanic and Jackson's vocals are out of this world, I love her enthusiasm on stage and you linger on every word of every song. We both totally loved the new material, even much so that we looked at other dates we could possibly latch on to to review. LFest here we come (lol).

The Marvellous 'End of The Line' kicked off the show, followed up by 'I'll Never Know', and the amazing 'Tongue Tied'.

The next few songs were bloody awesome to say the least, Jackson is so, so talented, a one-woman band: Guitar, Ukele, Mouth organ, Drums and these are the instruments she played tonight.

Chirpy 'Long Way Round' up next and the mesmerising 'Remedy'. Our favourite part of the show was the Erasure classic 'Little Respect', Jackson's version did the song justice to say the least; I loved it much more than the original.

One of the show highlights was when Tring and Jackson played the drum kit together, this was amazing, the passion and energy drove the audience wild.

It looked like Jackson thoroughly enjoyed the show, laughing and smiling throughout the show and immersing herself in every single song.

The audience lapped it up, the whole show was colossal and the new material is amazing. The set went too quick for my liking.

Lots of banter between songs, which is to be expected from the sociable Jackson, at one stage in the show, a punter, a little worse for wear asked Jackson to ask her girlfriend to say Marry Me, after the girlfriend shouted 'Yes, I Will', the Punter asked Jackson if she could have a kiss, Jackson looked somewhat mystified and replied, the next song is called 'Leaving' and I guess this is what you should do back to your girlfriend – 'Leave'.

On her own or part of a band Jackson is epic, I just don't understand why her fan base isn't bigger than it is and why the music business hasn't caught on to her gargantuan talent.

If you haven't seen Jill Jackson, then do yourself a big favour, buy a ticket and go see her, you won't be disappointed; she is epic, totally amazing in the flesh, truly a Scottish Songbird, we loved it.

Jackson loves her fans and really appreciates their support, even much so, doing a signing and a little meet and greet after the show with all the fans. This was a nice touch and not what you see every day.

FUTURE GIGS