When Natalie Imbruglia was announced as support for Jack Savoretti, it made it an even easier decision to go! Half an hour from home and an artist that I had wanted to see live since the 90’s, this was a moment I never thought would happen!

Left Of The Middle, Imbruglia’s debut album released in 1997 is such an epic and iconic album with numerous hits such as Torn, Smoke, Big Mistake and Wishing I Was There. The five albums that followed included hit songs such as Wrong Impression, Shiver and Counting Down The Days.

Her most recent album Firebird was released in 2021 and holds a collection of tracks co-written with the likes of Albert Hammond Jr., Romeo Stodart, KT Tunstall, Eg White, Fiona Bevan, and Rachel Furner and more!

Westonbirt Arboretum is, as you can imagine, a stunning setting surrounded by the most beautiful trees. A shower of rain just a couple of hours before tonights show was about to start, we were slightly concerned whether we were going to be able to go at all. Thankfully, the Australian singer/songwriter was met with sunshine throughout her set.

Looking sensational, wearing a stunning navy and black skirt and top, Imbruglia drew a large crowd of hardcore fans, new fans and more.

It was easy to get to the front of the stage. One of the beautiful things about a Forest Live, Concert Series show is that people go to have a comfortable evening with friends and family or alone. They enjoy a drink, maybe bring a picnic and most bring camping chairs or blankets and just soak it all in! This made it easy to walk up near the front and not be crowded.

Starting with the song What It Feels Like from her latest album Firebird, Imbruglia’s energy was infectious from the get go! Fans sang along to Wishing I Was There and Shiver was gorgeous live! It’s one of those songs that every time you hear it, you’re reminded of just how good it is! Wrong Impression brought on another crowd sing along moment and the show was just getting started!

A favourite for me off of Left Of The Middle is Leave Me Alone which I didn’t expect to hear and was over the moon she played it! This song embodies so much of my love of 90’s music and is reminiscent to artists such as Portishead as has that Trip-hop feel! Singing along to it was a lot of fun!

A great moment also came from Maybe It’s Great from Firebird. A track she co-wrote with The Strokes’ Albert Hammond, Imbruglia suits rockier songs like this just as much as she does pop tracks.

A loud “YEAH” was shouted by an audience member as the intro of Smoke played out! Smoke is without a doubt one of Imbruglia’s best songs and live it was truly breathtaking! The emotion in that song was translated beautifully live! I really do miss songs such as these and artists like Natalie (well there is only one Natalie Imbruglia) but I mean artists and music like we had in the 90’s. I guess everyone says that about artists from their era, from their teenage years but the 90’s was mine and I really felt like I had transported back in time for a moment!

Another track off of Firebird called Just Like Old Times was a song Natalie said was for the romantics in the audience and also the non romantics of whom she needs to convince as is a sentimental song!

Torn obviously went down a storm. Performed flawlessly, the energy from Imbruglia, the band and the audience was on fire and the chorus of voices singing along unified the crowd in a wonderfully memorable moment.

This was not the end though, the powerful Build It Better from Firebird kept us fully engaged and then of course, she closed the set with the phenomenal Big Mistake. It was Big Mistake that really hit home for me! I remember hearing it for the first time ever and being blown away by how much of a diverse artist she was. This track shows her strength in a more rocky style and I knew then I would be a life long fan!

The whole set was fantastic from start to finish and full of hits we all know and love! Those many moments of nostalgia were really quite emotional at times. Finally hearing songs from Left Of The Middle live meant a lot. That album was such an important part of my life back then.

Natalie Imbruglia is a timeless artist who never fails to impress with her music and now I can say she is just as brilliant live as she is in record! Her down to earth attitude and friendly persona brings that extra something special to her live performances, she is such a natural on the stage.

Her band were fabulous and played to perfection.

I hope it isn’t too long before I see her again and hopefully a headline show!