Camille O’Sullivan has garnished huge praise and respect throughout the years at the Edinburgh Fringe. Rightly so, as she is unforgettable to those lucky enough to catch her live. Part Irish, Part French she beautifully sings dark cover versions of songs by Nick Cave and Tom Waits that to say are astoundingly good, wouldn’t even begin to do her justice.
One of the minor criticisms of last years performance was a general lack of new material and Camille has clearly taken this onboard. Creating a completely new set list covering many new songs and incorporating such artists as David Bowie, they are all performed with an incredibly talent band.
The new songs are intriguing and of course elegantly, flawlessly performed but somehow don’t have the same heart melting qualities of the last few years. Judging by the extra loud cheering after she sings some previous year’s highlights, the audience are in agreement.
Now performing at the much larger Queens Hall, despite being elegantly lit and strewn with Chinese Parasols it simply is no match for her previous venue at the Spiegel tent. The secret to her success was the ability to look you dead in the eye as she sang, and the intimacy of her routine has now sadly been shattered.
A terrible shame then but, to those who have never seen her before, you will walk away completely in awe. Make no mistake she is a five star singer but those more familiar to her will come away feeling strangely disappointed.
4/5 
Martin Miller
