Anne WidjajaVerdict: Jamie T @ the Metro 16/9/09
September 21st 2009 14:40
Jamie's best songs in the set list were his best pop songs. 'Sheila' saw the entire metro theatre truly raise the roof, and 'Chaka Demus' which Jamie himself announced as a 'pop song' was met by smiles all round, and also incited some seriously excitable dance moves. The more medium paced, soft melodies of the newer songs were executed most impressively by the band. Sweeping choruses were built up with well paced riffs, interesting backing tracks and subtle keyboard warps. This was particularly outstanding on 'The Man's Machine', which also displayed the talents of a scenester keyboardist wearing tight jeans which looked plain ridiculous next to Jamie's T's hoodie, denim jacket combo. 'Spider's Web' also titillated the audience with a shout of the cheeky line 'Osama sounds like Obama to me'. The simple guitar riffs and the snappy drums added an extra sparkle to the melodies of this song. The beats are certainly catchy enough to make you abandon your normal dance moves for some serious rap arm bouncing.
Jamie T's live show encapsulated all that energy, all that love, and all those excellently catchy beats we know and love, into one chaotic blur of good fun. The setlist was played loud and proud to a crowd that can only be described as being on their 'boozy party' best behaviour. Jamie T cruised through a good mix of the best of his oldest and newest tracks, to the delight of the hungry crowd, who eagerly shouted back every lyric with boundless enthusiasm, and an impressive accuracy. The band fed of the frenetic energy of the crowd, storming through tracks such as 'Salvador' where Jamie's 'from here to Salvadoooor' croon became an urgent yell amongst the banging guitars, drums, and his toughest competition: the shouting crowd. Classics 'If You've Got the Money', 'Sheila' and 'So lonely was the Ballad' were similarly transformed into a joyous yelling contest, but really if you weren't yelling out every line you were missing out on half the fun. Even the heart felt rendition of the first slow paced ballad ever by Jamie T- 'Emily's Heart' couldn't shut the crowd up, although admittedly Jamie's pitch was slightly off - most likely due to all the heavy strain on his voice (for the number of words he can fit into one breath he must have an asthmatic's dream lung capacity!). But really, despite pitch problems and loud punters, that song could melt an ice cap, just as well as it could, a cold, cold heart. Let's just say that lighters were waved ala your average 70s-long-hair-bopping rock concert, and whilst where on that note, in response to someone's attempt to use a virtual flame on their iphone - really. not. cool.
At the end of it all, it was clear that Jamie T simply does pop best. The best tracks were those that used the whole band, had cohesive and well built up melodies which nicely complimented Jamie's intermittently wise, personal, and wittingly commentary lyrics. What sets Jamie's style apart from other artists within his genre is that he has an innate sense for mashing different paces, rhythms and melodies. Finally we're hearing a band that really shines up his already captivating verses and adds interesting layers to his signature style. This gem in the rough has been shined just enough to let us know that he's a talent to be reckoned with, yet he still has just enough grit to keep us interested.
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