Like many parents this year, we had a very disappointed daughter when we were unable to gain Wembley tickets at a reasonable price to see Taylor Swift.
We had heard of Katy Ellis who is a Swift impersonator/covers artist and when we saw that she was performing in a smaller venue, at Kilworth House Hotel in Leicestershire, we thankfully gained some tickets. This theatre has approximately 400 seats compared to some of the much larger venues that they play this show at.
Having heard so much Taylor in the car this year, I think my wife and I are also quite the fans of her music as well now! Certainly familiar enough to have our own favourites like “Karma”.
As the venue is an outdoor theatre, thankfully it does have light tarpaulin roof cover for the audience. As is typical in this country, the weather was not quite as good on the concert day with it being a little windy and cold. Thankfully the venue did have a cafe/bar to buy drinks which was handy to help keep warm with a coffee.
The theatre has large grounds and on arrival, we had a picnic to start off the occasion. Our tickets were really good and we could see the stage well.Nearby, they also had a decent merchandise stall with t-shirts, lanyards and other souvenirs.
Starting at 2000, Katy performed for a couple of hours in total with an intermission of about 20 minutes with the show finishing around 2220.
If you have not attended a gig that is a covers band/artist, they can be really good and fun. The next best thing with many being very professional and entertaining. We had previously seen a Take That and Little Mix covers band and this was also amazing. Katy was excellent and was supported by a live band and dancers. Vocally, she was really good and does sound like Taylor.
Set wise, they played all the most popular hits with numerous costume changes. Very enjoyable and my only feedback would be if the sound system could have been a touch more powerful. Lighting was also excellent.
The whole audience was in the mood for the gig with many wearing Taylor T Shirts, costumes and swapping friendship bracelets etc. As you would expect, lots of young girls were in the audience who enjoyed themselves. Certainly an entertaining night out with many dancing and joining in.
An additional bonus was that at the end of the show, the dancers and Katy hanged back for selfies etc. A nice touch for the children who queued up.
