Rianne Downey, The Spa Theatre, Scarborough, 20th April 2026
- John Hayhurst
- May 2
- 3 min read
Rianne Downey - A voice that cuts clean through the hush — no strain, no show, just control from start to finish
Words and Photos from John Hayhurst
A quiet room can be unforgiving. On a Monday night in Scarborough, with rows of seated punters and the sea air still clinging to coats, there’s nowhere to hide. However, Rianne Downey walked into that space and held it from the opening line.
Support came from Amelia Coburn, — ukulele, dry humour, and songs about modern dating using Tinder and “meeting knobheads” mostly from her Teesside town which she has now christened “Borough Borough” in homage to Scarborough’s ‘Scarbados’ moniker.
She certainly loosened the crowd. Her line about selling bookmarks for £1 on the merch desk “because there are always some tight bastards” got one of the night’s biggest laughs. However, away from the between song comedy banter there was much to be impressed with. Coburn has a crystal clear folk voice and some lush lyrical work particularly with closer ‘Oh Captain Guide Me Home’.
Rianne Downey opened with ‘Sunblind’, her voice landing clean and steady, cutting through the polite hush that had settled over The Spa Theatre. No theatrics, no drawn-out intro. A great backing band and beautifully pure vocals that did all the hard work, pitch perfect and hitting those high notes with precision. The violin, introduced almost immediately, became a defining feature — not decorative, but central, weaving through the arrangements.
This run of dates follows last year’s The Consequence of Love release, and the set drew heavily from it. Fair enough — the material holds up live. ‘ Downey mostly stayed rooted centre stage, occasionally stepping back to twirl and cue the band, but mostly letting the songs speak.
She looked the part too: a white two-piece with gold stars, somewhere between Nashville and Glasgow, worn without irony. It matched the music — country-leaning, but not pastiche. Her delivery stayed direct all night. No overselling, no reaching for effect.
Between songs, she kept returning to one point: she couldn’t quite believe the turnout. “A school night, 400+ people — thank you,” she said, more than once, and it didn’t feel scripted. Scarborough, she reminded the room, was one of the first places she’d played with Paul Heaton, still learning the catalogue of him and The Beautiful South at the time.
Midway through, she dipped into that era with ‘Silly Me’ and ‘Quicksand’. The latter prompted the only real break in the room’s composure — a man in the front row stood up and danced, completely unbothered. It could have been awkward. It wasn’t. Downey clocked it, smiled and waved at him, and carried on, letting the moment sit without comment.
‘Lost in Blue’ a personal favourite, seems to stretch out more than its recorded version, the band allowing it space without losing shape. ‘Caledonia’, a song she admitted she usually keeps just for Scottish dates. Written by Frankie Miller, it’s now become a regular request from fans all over the UK. A highlight to match the anticipated ‘Rotterdam’ – the song that changed her life.
Throughout the whole gig, her voice stayed consistent. High notes came easily, no visible effort, no drop-off late in the set. It’s a controlled instrument, and she knows it.
There was no encore routine. No walk-off, no pause for applause. Instead, she explained plainly: this is the last one. ‘Good in Goodbye’ closed the set, a choice that made sense — familiar, well-received, and strong enough to end on without embellishment.
Then, a final curve: her dog wandered on stage as the band took their bows. So she simply picked it up and continued to “bow wow” while we gave her a well deserved standing ovation. No longer really needing the Paul Heaton association, tonight Rianne Downey proved she has her own songs and style in abundance.
Listen to Rianne Downey on Spotify here:
