Cat Burns live in London: Tiktok talent proves she’s a real life star

There’s plenty of Gen Z stars that can credit their rise to TikTok, but the melodic voice of Cat Burns has allowed her to become one of the app’s breakout stars in the last year. Her song ‘Go’ reached Number Two in the charts earlier this year and allowed her voice to reach a whole new fan base.

It means there’s a palpable anticipation as fans await Burns’ arrival at her biggest London solo show to date, a one-off performance at the newly renovated Koko.

Arriving on stage, she walks out on stage dressed in green trousers and a green and cream-coloured argyle pattern sweater vest. She is met with an assemblage of phone cameras gripped by ecstatic fans ready to welcome her to the stage. Her backdrop is torched with beaming stage lights, and her all-female band are already soaking in the tender pulse of the atmosphere.  

Taking every moment she gets to glide from left to right of the stage and engage in a mini dialogue with her fans, she proves an arresting stage performance – and one gifted with a unique ability to keep the crowd spellbound under her vocals.

As for the set itself, she offer an illustrious run through her discography, slowly easing fans from track to track in an assortment – from her song ‘Free’, which reflects on her experience coming out to her family, to her emotionally charged song ‘Deathbed’ which explores the unless the possibility of relentless love, fans become betrothed to her artistry. She may have cultivated an online presence with her fans, but her stage presence is not to be unnoticed, with her set rich with versatility and avidly received. 

That stage presence, no doubt, has been honed during a recent European support slot with Ed Sheeran which saw her playing to some of the biggest stadiums on the continent.

“I’m going back to support him on tour,” she says in bewilderment as her fans in the crowd cheer her on. She then performs covers of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Love Yourself’ and ‘A-Team’, galvanising fans with her impressive versatility even more. 

“Let’s see who the OG fans are,” she states before performing her song Sober –  It was at that moment where her reach was evident as fans effortlessly recited the lyrics to the song, which came out in 2019. But nothing could beat the crowd’s reaction when she performed her hit song ‘Go’, as 3,000 people in the audience fluently quoted the lyrics “pack up your shit and go” with comfort.

It’s no small feat, but tonight’s show proves that Burns has seemlessly transitioned from the small-screen confines of TikTok to becoming an exceptionally skilled performer. Next time around, you sense that far bigger rooms await.