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By Chris Helsen, Wednesday 7th March 2007 01.25pm (2431 views)
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Jamie T @ Hammersmith Palais, London
Date: 2nd March 2007
Support: Little Ones, The Turncoats
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On a cold and wet March night I make my way to the Hammersmith Palais for what will probably be the last time. The venue is being bulldozed in a matter of weeks, which is sad for many reasons. Firstly, it’s a pretty good venue, though the sound leaves a little to be desired; secondly, it’s immortalised in one of the greatest songs of all time, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais by The Clash, this alone making it worthy of listed status as far as I’m concerned; thirdly, along with the threatened Astoria and many other recent closures, it’s one instance in a long line of inexplicable moves to further homogenise London. Why you would choose more flats or office space over a historic landmark venue is beyond me.
Anyway, back to the gig. A tardy friend meant I missed The Turncoat’s brand of songmanship that is reminiscent of our esteemed headliner, but got there in time to be warmed from the cold by the chirpy sunshine indie of The Little Ones who managed to get more than a few people dancing away. [At this point they ran out of Kronenburg at the bar, leaving me stuck with plastic bottles of Fosters for £3.50 – bulldozing no longer seemed as harsh.]
Bang on his 9.30 stage time Jamie Treays strides jovially on stage, shirt buttoned to the top, completely at ease with the devoted attention of the young crowd. By this time it had swelled in anticipation of the newly crowned NME Awards Best Solo Artist, both indications of the 20 year old’s current status. On the evidence of this show it is set to grow and grow. Opening with a committed version of ‘Dry Off Your Cheeks’, Treays belts out the sparse number with some broody backing from his band. A far cry from the stripped down shows with which Jamie T made his name, tonight he is ably backed by 4-piece band The Pacemakers. [Honourable mention must go at this point to guitarist Luis’ awful silver shirt which is one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen on stage for a long time.]
The band then positively tears through Operation and Ike & Tina, going so quickly that even Treays’ acrobatic tongue can’t wrap itself round every phrase. The energy is great but at this rate the gig will be over in half an hour, so it is with a sigh of relief that a great version of ‘If You Got The Money’ slows things down a little. This sets up ‘Northern Line’ before the frontman dismisses his band for stripped down versions of ‘Back In The Game’ and b-side ‘Living With Betty’.
The band return for ‘Alicia Quays’, which is mainly memorable for its spot on drumming, before one of many album highlights: ‘So Lonely Was The Ballad’. It is a rather ramshackle version with a ragged start and the band goes into speed-metal mode half way through, as it becomes a proper rock-out. The beauty of Jamie T’s debut album Panic Prevention is that each track is a potential live favourite, and tonight virtually every song is received rapturously. Of course everyone is waiting for the singles, though, and after an inspired run through of ‘Pacemaker’, the arrival of massive hit ‘Calm Down Dearest’ sparks a huge response. There is no question of anyone calming down as Treays lets the crowd sing the chorus and the whole number becomes a mass singalong. When he asks “Are you ready to dance?” before launching into ‘Salvador’, there is only one answer.
The biggest cheer of the night is reserved for special guest, Jamie’s mate Ed Larrikin of Larrikin love, who comes on, rather worse for wear swinging about a broken umbrella for ‘Sheila’. Impressively he seems to know all the words, as do most of the audience who again happily help out those on stage as the song becomes another rollicking ska singalong. With this, the band leaves the stage to give both themselves and the crowd a breather.
Larrikin’s appearance is just one of several nods to influences and contemporaries in the breaks between songs. An a capella rendition of the first few bars of the aforementioned Clash song is a fitting tribute to both the venue and the band but more of the crowd pick up the brief version of The View’s ‘Same Jeans’. And at the very end of the encore a certain reviewer got very excited when Treays announced he was going to play ‘Atlantic City’ by Bruce Springsteen. Alas, he was merely toying with me.
Returning alone for the start of the encore proceedings are restarted with his usual excellent cover of Billy Bragg’s ‘A New England’ before welcoming the band back for a raucous version of ‘Brand New Bass Guitar‘ that brings the rockabilly elements of the song to the fore. There is just time for a rock-out reprise of ‘Calm Down Dearest’ and the satisfied crowd is left to filter out and try and make last orders to discuss the night’s show.
All in all it’s a performance that is both committed and effortless. The 20 year old transfers the presence he had when on his own in small club gigs to a bigger stage, striding the breadth of the stage and interacting well with his band. Those after a note for note replication of the album would be sorely disappointed, but the changes in melodies and rhythms show, if it needed to be shown, that the kid’s got both personality. And a fair bit of talent. The stage is a bit big for some parts of the ramshackle performance but the energy and charisma, and of course the good old-fashioned great singalong songs mean everyone has a good time – even more so when the band return one last time to shower them with gifts of beer and water to take with them into the night…
Full setlist:
1. Dry Off Your Cheeks
2. Operation
3. Ike & Tina
4. If You Got The Money
5. Northern Line
6. Back In The Game
7. Living With Betty
8. Alicia Quays
9. So Lonely Was The Ballad
10. Pacemaker
11. Calm Down Dearest
12. Salvador
13. Sheila w. Ed Larrikin
Encore
14. A New England
15. Brand New Bass Guitar
16. Calm Down Dearest [reprise]
Chris Helsen 06/03/07
For more information you can visit: http://www.jamie-t.com
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