Categories: uncategorized
Date: 04 August 2007 19:45:36
There was something very civillised about sitting in the sunshine in Regents Park today, drinking Blush (blackberry) cider and listening to Amy Macdonald playing live at the Innocent Village Fete.
The tent she was playing in was filled with an expectant crowd, who obviously wanted to know if (i) she could manage to reproduce live what she can do digitally and (ii) there was depth of material beyond Mr Rock and Roll. Well the answer to both is sort of.
Firstly, it has to be acknowledged this being a small scale festival on an very hot day the sound quality was not all it could be. Next, due to the nature of the event and her playing at 1:10 on this dreamy afternoon it was a chilled audience who were sitting listening to her play, not the sort of audience one can easily engage with. Then there is the small matter of inexperience, she knows how to play well but working an audience and getting a real stage presence - well that is going to take some work. Finally her voice was showing evidence of strain, (no doubt caused by the sheer amount of promotional work she has been putting in over the last few of weeks).
All of that said the 19 year old darling of easy listening radio, this summer, and her band worked their way through a reasonable set which was certainly well worth listening to. Personally I felt the things that worked best were Youth of Today, Poison Prince and Run which finished off the set. What didn't work so well, although it did get a few of the audience quietly singing along with her was her rendition of The Killers Mr. Brightside. She did a solo on the first verse before the rest of her band kicked in (the bassist being a particualarly strong musician) and I have to say it had slight parallells with Mel C (Sporty Spice) doing Anarchy in the UK at V a few years ago (one of her first, if not first solo gigs). I say this because although the guitar was there this time there was a real hairbrush in front of the mirror quality to it.
As to the depth of the material I guess if she had been doing a slightly longer set she would have been able to give more. As it was she actually didn't play, what I personally feel is the strongest song on the album, Barrowland Ballroom and the set suffered as a result. Overall I have to say my verdict is live the performance wasn't as strong as on the album, but she certainly showed loads of potential for turning into a great live performer. Top points additionally go to her promotional team, the canvas bags that were being passed out amongst the audience advertising the album (This is the Life) were gorgeous and upon closer inspection actually look reasonably durable.