Ben Taylor / Amy Macdonald

First and foremost, the crowd at the Ben Taylor gig last night were possibly the rudest and most ignorant bunch of people I've ever come across at a show. I really don't understand why you would want to go to a gig only to constantly chatter throughout. It got to a stage where I actually felt quite embarrassed of the bad-mannered crowd and also very sorry for Ben Taylor up on stage. When Taylor asked everyone to show a bit of respect, people quietened down for possibly 30 seconds before starting up once more with their ever-so important conversations.

Taylor came to the small stage on his own to play a couple of songs before his band members joined him. He had a laid back and smug aura about him, but at the same time he was very sincere and humorous. In fact before every song he had an interesting tale to tell. In many cases the story continued and evolved throughout the song. His second solo number was called 'Wicked Way' and was a brutally honest account of a man wanting to get into a girl's knickers! This was one of the high points of the night as he had the crowd giggling to such lyrics as: "I just wanna take you out and get you drunk, so I can have my wicked way with you" and "I'm not gonna come over and meet you Mom and Dad, they know that I was bad".

Two solo songs and then he was joined by his band made up of Meredith Sheldon (acoustic guitar and vocals) and Peter Saw (rhythm). Taylor and company created a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere in the venue. At times it was a little too relaxed as I found myself slipping into a coma only to be resuscitated by the wittering crowd at the back who tended to be louder than the music itself.

Both Taylor and Sheldon have terrific voices but were slightly let down by the material. Highlights in the set were the previously mentioned 'Wicked Way', Dionne Warwick classic, 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' and Portishead's 'Give Me A reason To Love You'. There was also a snippet of Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' and it was a touch disappointing when it finished and we went back to Ben Taylor's less memorable repertoire of songs. Many of his tunes sounded too similar to keep the attention of the audience so, in a way, it's not surprising that they were gossiping.

Finally, I'd like to give a special mention to last nights support act, Amy Macdonald. At the tender age of 19 she looked like she was sh*tting her pants!! I don't really blame her because about 4 yards in front of her were a bunch of unaccommodating London types!! However, she managed to win them all over with simple melodies and thoughtful lyrics.

Particularly fine songs included 'Youth of Today', 'Mr Rock and Roll', and a new one which ripped into a certain 'wannabe', but now not 'gonnabe', footballer's wife from Celebrity Big Brother. There was also a decent cover of 'Mr Brightside' by the Killers. Keep an eye out for Macdonald because I'm fairly sure she'll do quite well.

FUTURE GIGS

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