Take me to church Camille O’Sullivan. Her performance, at Assembly Roxy, is a gorgeous love letter to her close friends Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor, who both passed away in 2023. There are also songs from Leonard Cohen, David Bowie and Nick Cave.
The forthright O’Sullivan takes to the stage as though she has a point to prove. She’s determined to show everyone she’s still got it, and she does. O’Sullivan is over the bullshit and while some might mistake her attitude on stage for bratty or neurotic, she’s there to sing and sing she does.
O’Sullivan maintains a haunting vibrato that has aged like a fine wine as she pours her soul into the performance. She performs Shane MacGowan’s song ‘Haunted’, which she sang at his funeral. It was, she jokes “quite the event”. T
Twenty years on since she first came to the Fringe, O’Sullivan still possesses a loyal fanbase. The queue for the Assembly Roxy is practically around the block, filled with excited fans discussing which songs she’ll sing tonight, one audience member even quips “I hope she’s had a drink, she sings better when she’s had a drink”.
You can tell it comes from a place of love.
Camille O’Sullivan: Loveletter, 21:35, Assembly Roxy, Aug 8-11, 13-17
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/camille-o-sullivan-loveletter
