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Paddy Casey is a charming young Irish man who will make you want to pick him up and put him in your pocket once you've heard his bittersweet folk rock. His Cinco de Mayo set at the Wiltern was riveting, captivating and comedic to say the least. Opening with the song "Sweet Suburban Sky," he commented ironically that he had gotten his "happy song" out of the way. Facing some technical difficulties during the first few songs of the set didn't seem to faze him much, nor did having pneumonia. "Pneumonia is actually quite slimming," he said. "Get the waist you've always wanted in 24 hours!" You'd have never guessed that Casey was sick as his voice rang clear as a bell throughout the Wiltern.

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he had won the hearts of the audience with his self-deprecating humor and his thoughtful folk music

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Casey's set proceeded to pick up toward the end, although the technical difficulties seemed to plague him throughout the entirety of his time on stage. "I've wasted so much time up here tonight," he commented as he tuned the guitar for his last song before KT took the stage. "I guess I should play this last one in tune," he said. After he had won the hearts of the audience with his self-deprecating humor and his thoughtful folk music he informed us regretfully that there wouldn't be CDs of his fantastic Addicted to Company, Pt. 1 available to purchase and if we wanted to know why... we should ask FedEx.


Paddy Casey with some feminine finesse | Photo: Alexis Roberts

For those who don't know KT Tunstall, the dynamo Brit singer and her guitar hit the music world hard in 2005 with her single "Black Horse and The Cherry Tree," [watch video] which got incessant airplay. KT is the absolute total package as she performs on stage, and it's no wonder why she had been so successful over the past few years. She's a small-framed woman with a huge voice and an even bigger personality. Just as much of a comedian as she is a singer, she always had a quick-witted retort for whatever commentary the crowd was going to throw at her. "Take off your shirt!" one man yelled at her. He response was "Why? I fucking love this shirt." Game, set, match: Tunstall.

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She's a small-framed woman with a huge voice and an even bigger personality

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Her stage presence is large, and though she comes equipped with a full backing band it's hard to pay attention to anyone but her. In between songs she's a big talker and tells stories (about things like her purchases at the San Diego Salvation Army), interacts with the crowd and gets everyone involved. At one point she had everyone do the "LA Body Pop," which is Tunstall's answer to hip-hop's "popping and locking." She lead the dance-a-thon from stage, unashamed to "pop it" in front of hundreds of people.


Paddy Casey live in LA | Photo: Alexis Roberts

She played songs that you'd expect to hear, like her hit radio singles, including "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See" [watch video]. Playing for almost two hours, Tunstall delivered a set full of everything off of all of her various albums. "Funny Man" was a stand out song from the set, and she alluded to the fact that it was written about her good friend, the lead singer of The Aliens (made up of former member sof The Beta Band).

The crowd was highly involved in and receptive to her music, and you could tell she held them captive as they clapped, danced and sang along; proving that there's nothing better to do on Cinco de Mayo then catch some alt country from the UK, instead of drinking margaritas all night.

—Alexis Roberts
05.07.08