On a frosty night on the last night of her current European tour, Regina Spektor appears onstage in the O2 as the opening act for David Gray. She sits down in front of her Steinway piano and for the next hour treats us to her own blend of classical folk-pop. Her voice also serves as an auxiliary instrument creating yelps and noises along with a strong New York accent.

Midway through the set, she introduces her small band of simply a drummer, a violinist and a cellist before launching into probably her biggest hit to date, ‘On The Radio’. This is one of the few times she says much more than her genuinely heartfelt simple “thank you” between songs. For most of her performance she sings with her eyes tightly shut in a wonderful world of her own.

It takes a brave performer to stand on the huge O2 stage solo; but Regina takes up here beautiful green Epiphone guitar and plays a couple of songs doing just that including a glorious rendition of ‘That Time’ from her 2006 album Begin to Hope.

Her final country folk song, the wonderfully catchy, ‘Love (You’re a Whore)’ demonstrates her diverse influences and leaves the audience looking forward to when she will surely return to headline her own gig in 2010.

Photos by James Goulden.