I was a bit shocked when we got there because the arena had been slashed in half so it was only running at half capacity. There were so many empty seats and even the arena floor, which was standing room, was a bit empty. By the time the support act came and went people had appeared from every nook and cranny to fill almost every crevice. There were only a few empty seats and no space at all on the arena floor.
Support was provided by the pint sized Lucie Silvas. I can vaguely remember her from years ago, but no songs instantaneously sprang to mind as she started to warble away. The set was short, sweet and to the point. She literally spent 30 minutes and 6 songs warming up the audience for JK (aka Jamiroquai).
Ms Silvas had an amazing four-piece band to support her. It was just a shame that the sound was distorted and the vocals of the first tune a tad wobbly. However, she hasn't sung live for a long time and the rest of the songs went from strength to strength.
In fact, Ms Silvas has recently been in Nashville writing a boatload of songs for her new album. 'Letters To Ghosts', was the title track off of her forthcoming album and it was fabulous. The most memorable song of the whole set was 'Breathe In Love'; I must admit I'd never heard it before (shame on me) but my other half told me she remembered it. It must be my age!
The audience were appreciative of Ms Silvas support slot, but it was quite obvious they were waiting for the main thang.
Time went so slowly and I was getting frustrated by where I was sat. At points I felt like I was impersonating Zebedee from Magic Roundabout - up and down, up and down while annoying people went to the loo or to get sweets. During the 30-minute wait I got up 23 times! I kept looking at my watch and wishing for 9 o'clock to come so that they would stay in their places. All of a sudden, the house lights went down and the audience roared with delight; even me!
The stage had been shrouded in a black curtain and moments later it came down as quick as a flash whilst the first chords of 'Rock Dust Light Star' throbbed out of the amps and speakers. Hooray! Finally!
I must admit I've never been really enthralled with JK; he's never been my thing really. This night changed my opinion totally though as boy can this boy sing. His show was a non-stop entertainment-fest too. Screens and lights galore. One screen took up the entire backdrop of the stage pulsing out images to match each track. Video screens were stage left and right too, for the audience at the back of the arena, who couldn't quite see JK strut and dance his infamous moves throughout the set. Overhead were illuminated planets that looked amazing.
I couldn't believe how good JK's band was. There was a brass section, a percussionist, three backing singers, keyboardist, lead and bass guitars and the man himself. In all the gigs I've seen the only other band that came up to this standard was Gloria Estefan's ensemble. It was an absolute delight.
I have never seen a front man with so much energy either, dressed in his trademark headdress, white tasselled jacket, jeans and classic Adidas trainers in bright orange. The headdress stayed on all night, no matter how much he dripped with sweat. He even had to change his hand towel at one point as the first one was absolutely saturated. It's hardly surprising though as he never stopped dancing and jigging about all night.
The only downside was that some of the songs went on and on, it was as if we were hearing the 12" extended mix not the radio edit! 'Main Vein' went down well with the audience, but JK's back catalogue of classic hits completely woke up the audience.
'Cosmic Girl' was an absolute stonker and I've never seen so many people up and dancing. 'Smoke And Mirrors', 'You Gimme Something', 'Lifeline' and JK classics 'Little L' and 'Canned Heat' pumped out one after each other. The old classics were the best by far and I loved every minute of it.
The highlight of the night for me had to be when the bass line started thumping and the chords for 'Deeper Underground' filled the arena. I almost wet myself with excitement as, ashamedly, it's the only JK track I have ever bought. It didn't disappoint either. It was astounding.
When 'Space Cowboy' and 'Love Fool' were just as superb, I started to wonder why hadn't I seen this band/guy before? Shame on me I say!
'Travelling Without Moving' was so long it became monotonous so I was glad when 'Scam' and 'Alright' took over and finished off the set in style. The audience were in absolute awe and so was I. We'd been delighted by JK's sound for over two hours by this point and it was only when 'White Knuckle Ride' finished off the night as the encore, that I stood up and realised just how numb my bum was.
If you haven't seen this guy before, you need to buy a ticket now!!
article by: Michelle Owen-Williams
published: 26/04/2011 12:00
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.