IT’S not often on a Wednesday night you get to don a brightly coloured dress and a pair of killer heels, but last night that is exactly what I did as three friends and I headed to see Paloma Faith perform at the Ipswich Regent.

Now, I have to admit that I didn’t really know too much of her music before going, but whether you know her songs or not, it is hard not to know of the girl herself. As famous for her fun sense of humour, as much as her quirky dress sense, she regularly appears on shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks and is not shy in having a bit of fun with fellow guests and presenters. Perhaps this is because she is not only a singer but an actress and dancer too and even worked for a while as a magician’s assistant, so performance is in everything she does.

Reading a little about her before the show it would seem she has made a purposeful choice to change style between her current and last album; the former being very up-beat pop fun but still with a noticeable soul and jazz influence; the latter she has expressed as putting more of herself out there, the songs evoking images and telling stories of events in her life.

I saw barely an empty seat and there was the definite feeling that everyone was there to enjoy themselves and the girls well, they did us proud, dressed to kill as though they’d caught the Paloma spirit - boys, you could’ve tried harder!

Known for putting on a show, last night was no exception and she did something I’ve never seen before: she got the whole audience up dancing despite it being a seated venue - and they stayed standing throughout. Inviting her old guitarist (Seye, now her support act) on to join her they launched into into Stone Cold Sober from her first album with everyone joining in and they stayed with her all night. From props to performance it was all rather fabulous.