Nina Nesbitt and Plested @ The Roxy 3/20/19
What a night for emerging singer-songwriters from across the pond.
London-based Phil Plested opened the evening with a solo acoustic set. Armed solely with a guitar, Plested sang through his repertoire, which includes credits writing for Little Mix, Naughty Boy, and Etham. Performance-wise, Plested enjoyed playing the tortured artist, either undeserving of love (“Worthy of You”) or struggling to keep it in control (“Ribcage”). For fans of George Ezra or John Newman, Plested scratched the same itch.
Following Plested came Nina Nesbitt, who at only 24 already boasts a lengthy set of credits dating back to 2012. Sporting a pink lob and simple dress, she took to the Roxy stage without too much fuss. This suited her as a songwriter, whom an audience wants to hear play piano-driven or acoustic versions of their songs. That said, Nesbitt needed to give a little bit more energy to completely sell me.
Joined by other rising talent like Charlotte Lawrence, Nesbitt would at least enliven a little more and the stage seemed to engulf her a bit less. Nesbitt’s clearly just getting started, but she’s also got a little ways to go in terms of performance.