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Whatever
your opinion of Jamie Cullum, you have to take your hat off to him.
At Portsmouth Guildhall he had his audience eating out of his hands.
It's not hard to see why.
Almost
as soon as he hit the stage, he revealed some of the boyish charm
and cheeky antics that have made him a huge star.
With
his Nan's old carpet laid out onstage to make everyone feel more
at home, he climbed on top of his piano to sing I Get A Kick Out
Of You and began to work his way through a relaxed but energetic
set.
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| Jamie
stands on his piano |
Jamie
is completely at ease performing and took immediate command of the
stage and his hugely talented band. However, it was the last date
of the tour and his band had a few tricks up their sleeves.
After
an upbeat and playful rendition of Old Devil Moon, Jamie confessed
that his band had just played the song in a totally different key!
Amazingly, the unfazed jazz whiz graciously took it in his stride.
It just goes to show what a great musician he actually is.
He
really does know his piano inside out. As well as tinkling the ivories,
he introduced us to the fine art of 'piano slapping', a technique
that he has become well known for. Playing the instrument like the
bongos, he slapped out a funky rhythm on the sides, the top, the
inside, even underneath (where, incidentally, the band had stuck
a naughty picture for him to find).
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| Jamie
Cullum |
The
seated audience was a complete mixture of ages and Jamie's broad
set catered for them all. A blissfully mellow version of What A
Difference A Day Made, with dusky drums and a sleepy bass-line proved
a crowd favourite and later, as his smooth acapella vocals cruised
around the room, the captivated audience was so quiet that you could
have heard a pin drop.
It's
not only jazz that rocks Jamie's world. His cool re-working of songs
like Pharrell Williams' Frontin', and a dynamic, funky, laid-back
interpretation of the Jimi Hendrix classic The Wind Cries Mary sped
up the action and received whoops and cheers from the audience.
His own tracks like I Want To Be A Popstar and These Are The Days
also got things swinging and proved that Jamie is also a brilliant
songwriter in his own right.
Jamie
Cullum is a good time boy and likes a laugh but beneath all the
jokes and antics is a seriously gifted musician and a fantastic
performer. His love for his craft and his boundless energy shone
through at this gig bringing the Portsmouth crowd to their feet.
It's no wonder he's the
biggest selling British jazz musician of all time.
Were
you at Jamie Cullum's Portsmouth gig? Tell us what you thought on
our Music
Message Board.
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