KT Tunstall is a big star now. Her first album, Eye to the Telescope, has sold more than four million copies, and the follow-up, Drastic Fantastic, has been an instant Top Ten hit here and in America.

But, on the opening night of her British tour it seemed as if she still couldn’t quite believe her luck. She breathlessly recalled the last time she had played Birmingham, in a venue the size of a shoebox. Now she was installed in the 3,000-capacity Academy, a much bigger gig, albeit with facilities not noticeably superior to those of a shoebox.

Along with the change in circumstances has come a rebranding of Tunstall’s musical persona. The giant billboards with the rock chick brandishing a silver electric guitar are a far cry from her acoustic troubadour beginnings in the East Neuk of Fife.

And it was this new KT who swept into the opening number, Little Favours, a mid-tempo, soft-rock song with a pleasant enough tune, but little emotional bite. However, she then switched immediately to acoustic guitar and reverted to syncopated-folk mode for a couple of the old standbys, Another Place to Fall and Other Side of the World.

These two elements of the performance were never completely reconciled. But whichever side of the line she eventually falls on, Tunstall needs to put some work into developing a show with the kind of wow factor necessary to reach beyond the front few rows at these kind of venues. Dressed for work in blue jeans, silver belt and a sleeveless black top, she sang accurately but with little passion. Her backing band, including Tunstall’s paramour, the drummer Luke Bullen, was efficient enough, but likewise lacked fire in the belly. Tunstall dispensed with them for a while and delivered a much livelier Black Horse and the Cherry Tree on her own. Miniature Disasters produced another good, gospel-flavoured performance, but then the pace sagged again as she drifted through a string of new songs, including If Only and Beauty of Uncertainty, with little conviction.

The encores produced a version of the old bubblegum pop hit My Sharona by the Knack, but even this surefire stomper failed to rouse the spirits, and it was left to the finale of Suddenly I See to round off a capable performance, but an otherwise underwhelming opening night.

— Tour continues: Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, October 18; Apollo Manchester, October 19; Newcastle City Hall, October 20; Colston Hall, Bristol, Oct 22

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