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# Lichfield Festival review: Laura Mvula @ Lichfield Cathedral
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/lichfield-festival-review-laura-mvula-lichfield-cathedral/
- Published: 2013-07-10T07:48:46.000Z
- Updated: 2013-07-10T07:48:46.000Z
- Author: Phil Preece
- Tags: Reviews, What's On, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 19:24

One of the greatest things about Festivals is having the chance to sample stuff you’ve never heard of and in the process finding new enthusiasms.

I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of Laura Mvula and it turns out I was in a tiny minority if the packed-out cathedral was anything to go by. Well, I’ve heard of her now, and glad to have had the chance to join the huge summery party her fans already knew her set was going to be.

Warming up for her on this already hot night was a cool young jazz combo the Anthony Marsden Band with a retro-homage style that updated some surprising classics, starting with Amy Winehouse’s sublime Love Is A Losing Game and following up with a gender-reoriented version of Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me before ending with a surprising jazz rendition of Elvis’s famous signature hit I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.”

[![Laura Mvula](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/lauramvula.jpg)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/i0-wp-com/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/lauramvula.jpg?ref=lichfieldlive.co.uk)

Laura Mvula

But it was Ms Mvula the crowd were waiting to see, and here she was fresh from Glastonbury to a rapturous welcome from midlands fans. Supported by her small band of musicians which included a great percussionist, a harp, a double bass and what looked like an electric cello she opened with Nothing Lasts for Ever from her new album followed by Let Me Fall – for my husband, before Diamonds and the poignant Father, Father.

Her sound is new but with roots stretching from gospel to soul and beyond – Nina Simone’s there, and reggae too. The result was one big party with this emerging star.

Acknowledging her links to the Lichfield gospel choir she asked them to support her on Is There Anybody Out There before urging the rest of us to join in with a finale (That’s All Right) during which the whole place was on its feet.

This original, charismatic performer managed to give her concert the ecstatic air of a religious revival. I’m glad I caught her; by the look of things she’ll be too big even for cathedrals soon.

The concert which followed featuring countertenor Iestyn Davies and lute Player Thomas Dunford couldn’t have been more of a contrast, and all the more fascinating for that. In one sense another taster, it was in reality far more than that because this was really a master-class in the subtleties of English Renaissance and Baroque music by two in-demand international players.

As I discovered years ago to my edification the refined acoustics of the cathedral’s Lady Chapel (the bit behind the altar) are perfect for unamplified music of any kind and this concert was a perfect case in point. The quiet subtleties of the lute and the deceptively gentle sinuosities of the counter-tenor’s range were heard to their full effect in this hushed setting. Restrained passion might be a good way to describe it.

A late evening concert of sheer delight.