Tricity Vogue: Calamitous Liaisons review

Tricity Vogue has serious Edinburgh chops, both as doyenne of her own ukulele cabaret (home of – yes! – the Uke of Edinburgh award) and as an accomplished performer of solo musical comedy shows. In recent years, Vogue has appeared as the Blue Lady, a live riff on Tretchikoff’s famous painting. But this year, she’s very much herself, presenting a set of original songs inspired by a lifetime of romantic misadventure. It’s not a terrifically original template but ‘Calamitous Liaisons’ soars thanks to Vogue’s easy manner, musical dexterity and – the crucial extra element – a rounded, sympathetic yet unsentimental sense of her own personality. Sporting boudoir chic, swigging from a bottle of white and exuding conversational warmth, she makes a virtuoso virtue out of the ukulele’s simplicity, turning it first to a calypso enhanced by improvised audience percussion; later to a quick-strummed ode to the joys of having, well, a quick strum; finally to an affecting and ingeniously nuanced ballad. Charming, accomplished and thoroughly loveable.

And if you like the sound of this, try:

‘Karin Danger: Hotbox’, in which the Aussie performer grapples with the beauty myth through smart, sweet songs.

For more from Ben Walters in Edinburgh, follow him @not_television