Noisettes / This Beautiful Thief

It was Sunday night and I'd managed to catch a snuggle up in bed, feel sorry for yourself virus, so the last thing I wanted to do was go and watch the Noisettes play at Bar Academy, Birmingham. The cheesy, heart shaped lollipops and stickers that were given out upon entrance to remind concert goers to buy their soon to be released album 'Wild Young Hearts' put me off even more. But boy I'm so glad I went!

The Noisettes took the brave step of advertising for unsigned support acts on MySpace for this tour. It was the turn of Birmingham based Geordies This Beautiful Thief tonight. Thanks to problems with the lead vocalist's mic (but who cared anyway as his Belinda Carlisle-like warble grated on your nerves) the set was a disorganised shambles, so it's no wonder that the audience chatted through unmemorable songs like 'Ten Thousand Love Songs' and 'Lose Myself'.

I lost myself so much that I spent more time looking at the vocalist's receding hairline, the pre-pubescent swooning girls, and an incredibly annoying nutter in amongst the spectators that was dressed like a young Jimmy Saville, than listening to the music.



We (me and a swarm of young students, oddballs and misfits) waited almost forty minutes more before Noisettes (singer songwriter and bassist Shingai Shoniwa, guitarist Dan Smith and drummer Jamie Morrison) graced the cage-like stage of Bar Academy. Style icon Shoniwa was resplendent in a lime green 80's style shoulder-padded jacket and glittering sequin top as she picked up her bass, smiled cheekily at the expectant fans and kicked off the gig.

Tracks from 'Wild Young Heart', and crowd favourites from their 2007 album 'What's The Time Mr Wolf' were showcased. What astounded me about the short, 11 song set was their obvious talent for playing a multitude of different genres of music. The velvety tones, range and quality of Shoniwa's vocals were amazing too. She reminded me of Corinne Bailey Ray or a young Grace Jones!

From the happy-clappy, jazzy title track 'Wild Young Hearts' and the stomping energetic rock of 'Saturday Night', to the pop of '24 Hours', the 60's soul of 'Never Forget You' and the country / blues influenced 'Don't Give Up', the alternative -pop sound of Noisettes was lapped up by the crowd and me.

The audience seemed restrained throughout the performance, but got their dancing shoes on for the funky disco grooves of massive 'Don't Upset The Rhythm', made famous by the Mazda ad. An electric atmosphere was created when Shoniwa stripped off her jacket, stood right at the front of the stage, jumped off speakers and danced like a woman possessed whilst shouting, "Go Baby Go!"



Other stand out songs from the night included rock heavy 'Scratch Your Name' (that was used on the final episode of The Sopranos), and the finger clicking 'Count of Monte Christo', that were met with roars from the crowd. The Noisettes finished off with 'Capture the Spirit' – it was only the third time they'd ever played it live, but what a fantastic high note to end on!

Shoniwa has an iconic style and vivaciousness that the crowd appreciated, and the band a music genre repertoire that make them appealing to all! There's a few more dates left on the UK leg of the Noisettes tour, before they head off to Europe. However, they are supporting Maximo Park during their May 2009 tour, so catch them if you can!

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.