Scottish Songbird, Rianne Downey Brings Celtic Charm To The Omeara
- Dave Broome
- Oct 31, 2025
- 3 min read
Omeara, London, - 29th October 2025
IMAGES DAVE BROOME / WORDS STEFANI NTOUMENOPOULOS
Walking into a packed Omeara — a venue unknown to me prior to this event — was like stepping back in time to a smoke-filled underground speakeasy. Complete with exposed stone walls and a bar tucked away in the back corner, the stage was framed by a wide arch and bathed in blue, ready and waiting for a young Rianne Downey to grace the centre.
An eager crowd of young and old were already jammed into the venue patiently waiting, although first Downey was supported by Middlesborough newcomer, Amelia Coburn. Sweet and beguiling, Coburn described her own music as “folk goth”. She gently bantered with the crowd throughout, with most of her songs accompanied by the ukulele. Her standout track was the final sea shanty closer where she encouraged the audience to clap along and help form her backbeat.
While Coburn contributed to the mystical and folky tone, Downey’s entrance some thirty minutes later really ramped up the air of enchantment. Dressed in a costume somewhere between Lana Del Rey’s most recent country foray (complete with hair bouffant and wide bow), and a Celtic version of Little House on the Prairie, Downey emerged confidently as the main attraction. The stage was dressed to match her aesthetic with garlands of flowers adorning each microphone stand. Indeed, Downey noted early on that she’s “away with the fairies most of the time”, which underscored the enchanting garden aesthetic.
Her setlist moved through a range of country-style songs, often inspired by Celtic traditions. Her prominent Scottish accent gently charmed the crowd, allowing for breathy girlish banter to fill the spaces between songs. It is undeniable that Downey has a powerhouse voice, which makes it easy to understand how she was plucked from relative obscurity by ex-The Beautiful South singer Paul Heaton from the trenches of YouTube to accompany him as far and wide as the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage. Certainly, it was clear that Downey was comfortable in a bigger setting, which accounted for a theatrical element to her performance which sometimes felt a little out of place in the small venue.
Performance highlights included the title track from her debut album, “The Consequence of Love”, which she dedicated ever so sweetly to her granny. This performance was authentically emotional and you could feel the crowd lift their applause and cheers in response. Downey swiftly followed this with her rendition of Celtic classic, “Wild Mountain Thyme”. It was a song which required no introduction and proved to be a genuinely lovely moment as the crowd softly joined in for the refrain, allowing for a gentle hum to murmur through the room. It was tender and sweet, and deftly matched against the louder, more emotional moments of the tunes before. By this stage of the evening, it was clear Downey had won over the audience. She continued to move through a mixture of songs from her debut work, coupled with some tunes from The Beautiful South (which greatly seemed to please some of the older faces in the crowd).
Downey’s combination of fairytale theatrics, Celtic charm and songbird styling make her a talent to continue watching, and it will be interesting to see how she progresses from here.
Setlist (Rianne Downey)
1. Sunblind
2. Lost in Blue
3. The Song of Glencoe
4. Because
5. The Consequence of Love
6. Angel
7. Wild Mountain Thyme
8. Silly Me
9. Quicksand
10. Nothing Better
11. Blue Eyes Burnin’
12. Rotterdam
13. Heart of Mine
14. Home
15. Good in Goodbye
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