Katie Melua at the Civic

Katie Melua's stage presence was elegant and professional.

Katie Melua is only 20 but the Soviet Georgian-born, Belfast-raised singer made her way effortlessly through decades of music, performing covers and originals from her debut album Call off the Search, and contemporary choices that showcased her vocal range.

Despite comparisons to Norah Jones, Melua has an edgier, more dynamic singing style. Opening with her tribute to Eva Cassidy, Faraway Voice, Melua's was anything but, soaring from a barely there, dusky timbre (Lilac Wine) to bold, Edith Piaf-style trembling (the encore of Closest Thing to Crazy) and a folksier, rockier vibe, reminiscent of Stevie Nicks.

Dressed in a black gypsy skirt, black curls framing her face, Melua's stage presence was elegant and professional, her sense of humour lightening the hushed atmosphere between songs. After adding Auckland into the lyrics of the John Mayall classic, Crawling Up A Hill, she let on she'd really like to have a go on the reverse bungy if only someone in her band would join her, and later dealt with a burst of audio static as though it was part of the act.

Joining her on the last gig of her English-speaking tour (her next is in Tokyo) was her excellent four-piece jazz band, although producer and pianist Mike Batt was missing in action, having "fired himself" from the live show.

Although much of the repertoire felt safe and familiar, Melua never lost sight of songs' pop sensibilities. She isn't Billie Holiday, after all, so why pretend? The material from her half-recorded second album also revealed a poppier, experimental side, and that Melua has a way with words.

Spider's Web, which she wrote in the lead-up to the Iraq war, had a socially conscious message rather than a political one: "Is a black man racist because a racist white man made him that way?" And Piece by Piece, a break-up song, felt as raw as her comments that it was just "out of the oven".

Of the two Cure covers, Love Cats felt too happy-go-lucky, and I Put a Spell on You lacked the fire she had with My Aphrodisiac is You, but elsewhere, you couldn't fault her passionate, convincing performance.

After a semi-standing ovation she finished as she'd started, with a beguiling rendition of Eva Cassidy's Anniversary Song, just Katie, her guitar and that magnificent voice.

Review

*Who: Katie Melua
*Where: Civic, Auckland