This is the Kit

There's almost a new-age casuality in the air tonight. One moment Kate Stables is performing her final checks on stage, the next it's a quick thumbs up to the sound desk, the lights are dimmed and we are off into her set. There is an endearingly informality that defines Ms. Stables, a pigtailed English Rose, this evening clad in smock (complete with banjo pouch), leggings and bedsocks. In abandoning the ceremonial, she has communed with those in tonight's audience who choose to remain cross-legged on the floor for this performance by her Bristol-based folk-rock collective, This is the Kit.

When she was last here at the Arts Centre it was a solo support for Anaïs Mitchell. Tonight she headlines with a three piece band in tow, including the familiar face of Rozi Plain on bass and backing vocals. In either guise, she approaches her performance with the same openness and warmth that has made her a favourite with Norwich audiences. Switching between the banjo, at which she picks with a mesmerising delicacy, and her gorgeous green Hobner guitar, the songs criss-cross from the touching gentleness of  'Two Wooden Spoons', complete with whistled accompaniment, to the escalating drama of 'Earthquake'. We are introduced to tracks from the about-to-be-released album 'Bashed Out' – delights like 'Magic Spell', 'Misunderstanding' and 'Nits'. And in between, we are thrown tasty titbits of gossip and news from earlier stops on the tour. The last two numbers before the encore come round far too quickly, the crowd-pleaser 'Spinney', and 'Bashed Out', the title track off the afore-mentioned new album, dedicated tonight to Sam Weller, director of the video, who just happens to be in the audience.