Previews

Previews

metromagazine
27/ 1/2006

CONTEMPLATING the amount Katie Melua has achieved by the age of 21 is enough to leave anyone feeling tired.

In fact she's portrayed as such a perfect package there seems almost no point going to see her live - you can bet she'll look beautiful, behave with perfect decorum and hit every note bang on.

It's not that there's anything wrong with her music - on the contrary everything is right about it. She has a great voice for singing the blues - it's just that unlike the greatest blues musicians, she doesn't seem to have much personality.

It's hard to imagine her drinking till dawn or being heartbroken while she maintains the sort of squeaky-clean impersonal image that Girls Aloud bosses would kill for.

Melua was born in Georgia and schooled in Belfast and Croydon, and has a very mature voice for her age, so it's no wonder that she's described in music industry-speak as a fresh and exciting voice.

Yet most of the best voices have a fresh and exciting personality behind them to cement their place in history, which she lacks, so far - apparently her latest single, Nine Million Bicycles, was inspired by a promotional trip to Beijing. It's hardly the gritty reality of real life.

Since being discovered by Mike Batt, of Wombles fame, while still at college, she has had two number one albums, performed for Nelson Mandela and featured on a Christmas single in place of the late, great Kirsty MacColl. She writes lovely songs and, by all accounts, performs them very well so there's no doubt a large crowd will enjoy her performance at the Arena.

But though she may sing about being the Closest Thing to Crazy, until she gets a bit closer I'll be giving it a miss.

Katie Melua plays the MEN Arena on January 27.

NEW York rockers The Strokes have sold out the Apollo for two nights next week even though their recent albums have received a mixed response.

First Impressions of Earth was released earlier this month and is the third offering from the Manhattan five-piece and their nonchalant and mumbling frontman Julian Casablancas.

When they first emerged five years ago with the EP The Modern Age and then the first album Is This It, they were seen as the band that would start a new golden age for rock.

Dressed as if the 90s never happened, Julian was joined by drummer Fabrizio Moretti, guitarists Albert Hammond Jr and Nick Valensi and bassist Nikolai Fraiture - all close friends before they began recording together at the Music Building in New York, sometime in 1998.

But Room on Fire, the second album released in 2003, failed to live up to expectations with its repetitive sound and led many to believe they had overestimated the band's potential.

For some, First Impressions confirms that feeling with the talented musicians and Nick Valensi's brilliant guitar work let down by Casablancas' songs and delivery.

Lead single Juicebox was leaked onto the internet and is an excellent track. You Only Live Once, Heart in a Cage and Razorblade are also good songs, but taken as whole the album doesn't live up to the expectations created by Is This It. However, with the old stuff thrown into the mix, it will still be an excellent gig.

A quick note to anyone who has tickets, don't be too enthusiastic while moshing - the band are apparently scared of British fans. They called in a security team to keep devotees away after receiving violent fan mail before their first trip to the UK.

The Strokes play The Apollo on January 30.

THERE will be dancing in the aisles when The Waterboys play the Bridgewater Hall.

The band is one of the finest acts in folk/rock music and has now been producing toe-tapping hits for more than two decades.

The biggest success, The Whole of the Moon, is as instantly recognisable today as it was when it reached number ten in 1990 after being re-released.

But the band has gone through cycles of change during its 20 years, both musically and in terms of membership - more than 30 musicians have performed live as one of the Waterboys.

The one constant has been Mike Scott, who has been the driving force as the lead vocalists and principal songwriter.

He has guided the band through three distinct phases. The early years between 1983 and 1985, or "big music" period, concentrated on producing a new sound in British rock 'n' roll - folk rock - and influenced later acts like Simple Minds, Big Country and the Hothouse Flowers.

The second was a folk music period, characterized by an emphasis on touring over album production and a large band membership; so large in fact that they became known as the Raggle Taggle band.

After a brief return to big music for one tour and the release of a mainstream rock 'n' roll album with Dream Harder, the band dissolved in 1993 so Scott could pursue a solo career.

He returned in 2000, resurrecting The Waterboys name for the album A Rock in the Weary Land, which shocked some fans with its experimental rock sound inspired by the likes of Radiohead. The group then changed direction again in 2003 and released Universal Hall, a mostly acoustic album.

The performances since 2000 mix the acoustic folk with electric rock as does the first official live album, Karma to Burn, which was released last year.

By the end of the night at the Manchester gig it is almost guaranteed the audience will be on their feet - both for The Whole of the Moon, which won the Ivor Novello award, and music from the best-selling album the Fisherman's Blues, which reached number 13 in the charts in 1998.

The Waterboys play The Bridgewater Hall on January 29.


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