Gibson Slash

So on a cold and wet Saturday night when I could have been enjoying myself I found myself on a packed tube going to the O2 arena to see Katie Melua. As if that I was not enough I was surrounded by drunk teenagers who were in the proceed of getting paralytic even before arriving at the party. By comparison I somewhat suspected that my evening at the O2 was going to be a fairly sober experience.

I don’t know why but every time I go to the O2 I experience problems, the security staff view photographers as a gross inconvenience and despite always being on the list I am made to wait ages before they finally figure I need a photo pass instead of a ticket. Unfortunately last night’s performance was just as expected.

Musically I have never been a big fan of Katie Melua who (in my opinion) makes Dianna Krall sound like Billie Holiday. Maybe my gripes should be less directed at Ms. Melua but her Womble creator Mike Batt who despite being incredibility successful over the past three decades actually admits to have written hits for Cliff Richard and David Essex! His company Dramatico which releases Katie Melua’s records also has a host of other singers including Andrea McEwan who was the main support act. Her recent single “Candle in a Chatroom” received some good press and her performance was enjoyable. Not a million miles away from KT Tunstall in terms of musical direction I would not be surprised if she does very well.

Katie Melua’s performance was less exciting. For some reason the photographers were only allowed to photograph the second, third and forth song. Not a problem other than we could only stand on the stage right, immediately behind her whilst she played on the piano and sang a Ballard in her native Georgian, which unsurprisingly sounded better than the other two songs. I certainly was happy to sneak out backstage after the forth number and pop into the Slug and Lettuce for a £8 glass of wine! One of the other photographer’s commented on that it was the most exciting gig that he had been to since James Blunt!

Written by John Rahim

Posted by John Rahim, filed under LIVE reviews. Date: November 9, 2008, 8:10 pm | No Comments »