Camille O'Sullivan

Tonight the Roundhouse is hosting a seated event with tables at the front and tiered seating further back. The stage has a burlesque feel and is looking decidedly feminine with make-up and a bottle of wine on a small table, and also fairy lights, candles, parasols, shoes galore and sequinned dresses suspended like ghosts. The band, comprising double bass, dustbins and drums, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, flute, piano and keys, start playing without the star attraction - Camille O'Sullivan is sashaying her way between the tables, pausing to gently stroke a few punters en route.



The French-Irish singer, based in Dublin (not to be confused with the other Camille, a French singer-songwriter) appeared on Jools Holland recently, singing the Nick Cave song 'God is in the House'. Nick Cave and Tom Waits are two of her favourite songwriters; O'Sullivan was brought up on Jacques Brel and also confesses to obsessions with Kurt Weil and Hans Eisler. Her gigs are a showcase of these admired songwriters.

Tonight's show presents a variety of classy tunes, some melancholy and some cabaret, all of them completely enthralling, and is entitled 'Dark Angel'. Camille looks the part, a curvy femme fatale, she takes to the stage wearing a black coat, which is soon discarded to reveal fishnets, heels and a little strapless black dress, which she has to keep hoisting up every now and then.



O'Sullivan's appeal is in her ability to engage and involve the audience fully in every note and nuance of every song so that you hear and understand all the words; even when they’re in German or French, we don't miss the intended sentiment. She has an incredible, passionate voice and enhances the delivery with her body, foot stomps, and facial expressions.

The set starts with a beautiful and stirring 'My Death' by Brel, followed by his song 'The Bulls' which is positively rowdy in contrast, and during this she plays a few discordant notes on the piano with her bottom ("bum notes" I'm sure some reviewers must have already reported!). She also sings the Brel compositions 'Ne Me Quitte Pas', this one sung in French and English with no accompaniment, and 'Amsterdam'. There are a couple of Bowie songs, a gravelly 'Rock and Roll Suicide', and 'Five Years'.

A couple of the songs tighten the throat and bring a tear to the eye, like 'Look Mommy No Hands', which Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls has also been performing at recent gigs. It speaks of "how careless we are when we're young" and how we scorn a parent's protection and take their love for granted, then realise too late - "I used to dismiss you, now I just miss you". A sparse version of 'Hurt', the Nine Inch Nails' song popularised by Johnny Cash, is also very moving.

Dave Coulter's saw played with a violin bow adds instant melancholia to the slow and wistful Waits' song 'All the World Is Green'.

Other highlights are Cave's 'The Ship Song, 'People Ain't No Good' and 'Little Water Song', where the lyrics tell a story from the point of view of a woman who is drowned by her lover – "you just take my breath away."



There are some lighter moments amongst the darkness including (after a quick costume change!) a raunchy rendition of 'In These Shoes', a Kirsty MacColl song. O'Sullivan likes to interact with the audience and intermittently leaves the stage to move amongst the tables, bantering, sitting on laps and playing with people's hair. She also encourages us to "meow" at one point during the show and is surprised by how quickly and enthusiastically the crowd responds.

O'Sullivan receives a standing ovation at the end of the main set, which closes with 'Five Years', and at the end of the encore which includes a stunning a cappella version of Brel's 'Marieke'. She thoroughly deserves the admiration. The 'Dark Angel' has been an emotional experience, an evening full of life, death, vivid storytelling and passion, and if you think cover versions are never as good as the originals, you haven't heard Camille O'Sullivan!

Set List
My Death (Brel)
The Bulls (Brel)
Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (Bowie)
Crack of Doom (The Tiger Lillies)
Little Water Song (Cave)
All the World is Green (Waits/Brennan)
Ne Me Quitte Pas (Brel)
In These Shoes (MacColl)
Look Mommy No Hands (Keane)
Moritat/Mack the Knife (Weil/Brecht)
Hurt (Renznor)
People Ain't No Good (Cave)
Misery Is the River of the World (Waits/Brennan)
Amsterdam (Brel)
Five Years (Bowie)
***
Marieke (Brel/Jouannest)
The Ship Song (Cave)
The End Is Not the End (Hickey)

FUTURE GIGS

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