By Luisa Terzulli
It would have been far more enjoyable without all the screams and “I LOVE YOU Paolooooooooo!!” all over the place, but Paolo Nutini’s was a pleasant show anyway. Carling Brixton Academy, 24th and 25th April, the Scottish-Italian singer/songwriter conceded two sold-out gigs to his affectionate fans.
More than a pretty face, his warm voice is already able to modulate his singing notwithstanding the young age and, despite an initial apparent bashfulness, can rule the stage and the screaming girls without getting distracted; comparisons with other greats of the music world have already been abundantly drawn.
He does not interact much with the audience, thus betraying to be new to the mass exposure, and performs a long sequence of works from his latest – and first – album, alternating with covers and reinterpretations of songs, among which Natural Blues by Moby, revealing his interests and wide influences.
Pleasant surprises are also his support acts: Newton Faulkner shows an amazing guitar technique and eclecticism, and performs an extraordinary cover of Tear Drop by the Massive Attack, while the Ghosts play an energetic Brit-Rock with great confidence.
By spanning from New Shoes to These Streets, without forgetting the sweeter Rewind and Last Request and the unsurprisingly very much cheered Jenny Don’t Be Hasty, Paolo strings together a succession of hits. The impression is to be present at a live playing of a “best of”, with the difference that this “best” is actually his whole production! A repertoire ranging from ballads to folk and pop, catching melodies and a great voice displayed for an hour and a half, proving to be not just a recording studio’s product but a real performer, Paolo may not be the Van Morrison of the new millennium, but certainly deserves a much better public than that screaming “I want your body!!”.
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