Ready Is Always Too Late

26th February 2022

So I’ve seen Sinéad Harnett perform before at O2 Shepherd’s Bush a few years ago, so I knew I was in for an amazing performance anyway, but I really wasn’t expecting to feel so emotionally attached to this woman and her performance that night at the O2 Institute in Manchester. Being half Thai myself, Sinéad is the only true representation I’ve ever had in the music industry. Her talent makes me so proud and it really shone through when I saw her on her Ready Is Always Too Late tour. I just want to thank her so much for putting my country on the map. She was supported by James Vickery who was a well fitting, exceptional selection, you can read my review of his set here.

The stage is black as the band start to play an intro leading up to her grand entrance. She walks onto the stage wearing a custom made corset and black cut out trousers, her hair in two buns. She begins the show with Take Me Away featuring EARTHGANG. She looks gorgeous as she sings and sways by the mic, her voice is magical. Every word she sings feels like its shimmering as it leaves her lips. The pace picks up a little as she jumps into Obvious. You can feel her starting to express her emotions through her vocals, the relatability of the song resonating with the audience as we’re singing along. There’s a dance break met by cheers from the audience before she tells us that there’s no where she’d rather be with us and starts to sing Rather Be With You. This song demonstrates her vocal range, it amazes me how she hits all these high notes so effortlessly. The live version of this song feels quite bossanova which, considering this song came out in 2016, feels like a good segue between her earlier sound and her new sound.

She asks us if we’ve ever heard of an album called Ready Is Always Too Late, of course we have so we’re cheering as she tells us the inspiration behind the title track, “spending time with a guy and thinking, maybe one day he’ll be ready for me, but you know he never was and ready was always too late,” and then she dedicates the song to anyone who uses anyone using ready as an excuse. “They should be ready for you now and you should be ready for all of your glory - yourself.” She spills her emotions to us in the form of riffs and runs. She belts out the last chorus and I keep wondering to myself, how is she not playing in bigger venues? She’s got a vocal range that could give Ariana Grande a run for her money. I do appreciate the smaller venue somewhat as small shows have this intimacy you just cannot get anywhere bigger. But mark my words, Sinéad will be selling out arenas one day.

The stage lights go hot pink for Body. One of my personal favourites, she performs the chorus in multiple registers. She belts out the last chorus, grabbing the mic here and there. That was definitely a highlight and I’m also certain this is one of the moments I really felt like I might cry because her vocal range was so good. The song is not even a sad one, it’s sexy, but that’s how extraordinary her vocals are. And believe me, there were many more moments like this to come. She takes a seat on a bar stool for Be The One, a fan favourite from her debut, Lessons In Love. When the chorus hits she’s doing a little footwork while moving her hips to get from one side of the stage to the other. She opens up the second verse with a run that gets a cheer from the audience. Every note she hits is even more impressive than the last as she riffs and brings the song to a close.

She dedicates the next song to Jamal Edwards, who sadly passed away recently, may he rest in perfect peace. She talks about how he started her career and how thankful she is for everything he’s done for her and the culture. The song is called Still Miss You and she says she misses him already. They way she emotes gives me that feeling in my face that warns me I’m gonna cry if I don’t stop myself, especially when she belts out the chorus with conviction. You can hear pain and loss in her voice under the heartbreaking circumstances, honestly Jamal was a legendary pioneer of the UK music scene and his light shone so bright because he shone the light on so many up and coming talents. He wanted everyone to win and he will never be forgotten.

She sits back on the bar stool to tell us the story of Heal You. Her friend sadly lost her boyfriend and they were going out drinking a lot to numb the pain and she was “watching her sleep one night, which sounds really creepy, but it wasn’t creepy, it was in a maternal, loving way” and she really wanted to heal her and thus this song was born. She asks us to help us out on the chorus, prepping us for when the time comes. The mood from the last song’s been carried over to this one, a real shift in energy from the rest of her show, but you learn to appreciate it because it’s so raw. And yes, I do have to stop myself from crying again (on a completely unrelated note I am only stopping myself because I got lash extensions earlier that day, otherwise I definitely would’ve been bawling). In a moment of complete togetherness we help Sinéad sing the chorus and the room feels really warm, like we are all in this moment together. Majority of people have lost someone in their lives and I really appreciate that Sinéad is able to take this pause in her more cheerful songs to give us this cathartic section of her performance, it’s so vulnerable and real.

Next we’ve got Lessons which she introduces as a song all about how she feels like her love life is “quite a joke guys, I can’t lie… and quite frankly I just don’t need another Lesson,” which gets a cheer out of the audience as she starts singing and so do we. The stage turns an array of colours as Sinéad walks across the stage, singing seamlessly before transitioning into Leo Bear. This song is such a perfect celebration of new life and the energy in the room feels really bright and warm. The mood shifts once more, things get a little sultry as she launches like the rocket she is into Distraction. She sings, dances and then drags the mic stand off stage before Let Go, a track from the deluxe version of her album. She sings to left side and the right side, her dancing echoes that of the music video for the song before she launches into Last Love. The R&B side of her vocals are more prevalent here. The note she hits before singing the last line is delightful.

Stickin’ is up next, I feel a lot of Sinéad’s instrumentals are really true to her essence, reminiscent of Days With You, the first song I ever hear of hers when I was 14 (without even realising it was her years later) which is a collaboration with Snakehips. Stickin’ is another one of my favourites, I am a big fan of both her collaborators on this song, VanJess and Masego. She sings the VanJess and the chorus again and as she’s finishing up we hear the beat from Boiling start to play before she asks if anyone in Birmingham is a fan of house. This is a song she made with Disclosure from their album Settle. She encourages us to dance and everyone is having a good time. It’s in this house section that I think to myself, she needs to collaborate with Kaytranada one day. And I’m now finding out she’s worked with him years ago, definitely think that if his next album has as many feats as BUBBA, Sinéad’s name has to be one of them. Nah featuring Sonny Fodera takes centre stage next, and we’re dancing as good vibrations the up the space of the room.

I’ve always wondered what came first for Sinéad, house or R&B? Especially as I feel her well known house music is so vastly different to her R&B, in comparison to how we’ve seen Kaytranada and friends seamlessly blend the genres on Bubba for example. Then we’ve got the Sonny Fodera remix of Unconditional as she prepares us in the build up before the beat drops, addressing each side and the middle. Then we’re jumping and ‘woop-woop’ing. I feel like she’s tapped back in to her love for house quite recently as it was a pleasant surprise to have that many of her house tracks, definitely wasn’t expecting it.

It’s when she goes back into R&B with Anymore featuring Lucky Daye that it’s apparent to me how in love she is with the genre. She pours her heart out to us and demonstrates her vocal ability. She has range that demands to be heard. Where You Been Hiding, another one of my favourites is one of her best songs in my opinion, again showcases her powerhouse vocals while begging the question of trying so hard to find the one. Now I know in my gut what’s coming next, as the cymbals provide a transition full of suspense before Sinéad’s big finale, If You Let Me. I feel this is everyone’s favourite Sinéad Harnett song, it’s sexy, it’s powerful. It’s a song she originally released in 2016 on her self titled EP that she felt special enough to put on her debut album three years later. It’s crazy to me that this song was the song I felt most wanting to burst into tears in sheer awe, like, this song is meant to be sexy not sad. Deep in my heart, I am so full of emotion seeing her sing this and emote so much passion. Her final chorus improvisations just feel so special while the band plays. It’s the big finish the show needs as purple spotlights dance across the stage. Mindblowing to me how such a powerful performance can put a lump in my throat like that, in a good way, obviously.

Sinéad has been in the music industry a long time and it feels so good to see her get the flowers she deserves. She demonstrates versatility and can truly master whatever genre she taps into. It’s great to see her performing a variety of her music from years ago to stuff she’s put out last year. She’s really got something for everybody here. Her live vocals are not to be missed, Birmingham came with great energy too. She really makes me so proud to be half Thai. She’s really the only one in the music industry doing it for us, but if she’s the only one right as of this moment in time, she’s doing a phenomenal job. An extraordinary vocalist with both R&B and house in her wheelhouse the highs and lows of emotions all come together to create this euphoric experience that is the Ready Is Always Too Late tour.