Wow. Well everyone, I saw Gemma Hayes last night and it was more than just a pleasant surprise. Her only stop in Northern Ireland on her current tour is the Nerve Centre, in Derry! Amazing. Especially considering that I now live in Belfast on weekdays (I'm now working up there on placement, until next September). There was a good crowd at the Nerve Centre last night (eventually - most were not there to see the supporting acts). I was there for the whole running length, and here's my view... The music was of a generally high standard throughout. We'd two supporting acts. Firstly a pair of unknown middle-aged guys who sounded like Simon & Garfunkel wannabes. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing - their songs had good harmonies and were fun to listen to on the whole. Secondly, an Irish singer/guitarist called Ann Scott took the stage. Previously unknown to me before this, she's actually released an album down south. Her style is pretty much like Gemma's, although maybe a little more downbeat. Her first EP is actually out now - it's called the Pauper Tiger EP, and it's released on her own label, Raghouse Records. She's also recording an album at the minute. I'll tell you what, she has the potential to go far. But what about Gemma herself? Well, she arrived on stage looking quite stunning and to a really loud cheer from the crowd. Right from the opening number you felt this was going to be a good night. More than any other artist I've seen, she attempted to make herself feel at home with us, the audience. Her first question: "Does anyone know how the United game went?" (I did stick my hand up, but she never noticed). Later she commented "We lost". Does this mean she's a Spurs fan, by any chance? Also, she gave out some of her plectrums to some of the crowd. In fact, I picked up one from her, but gave it away to the guy who'd asked for it in the first place (sigh...). Nor did she mind posing for photos demanded by many over-enthusiastic fans. (One of her poses echoed one of Audrey Tautou's funny faces from Amelie). Calls of "Marry me!" rang from quite a few of the lads in the crowd throughout the concert. She took them all with a nod and a wink, and praised us for being such a great audience. It seemed that she was enjoying the concert as much as we were, if not more. The songs she sang were some of the best ones from her album, Night On My Side, and a few from her first two EP's (including 4:35 a.m., the first one I ever listened to). The album's had plenty of praise and success, but many have been surprised by its Mercury nomination. None more so than Sunday Times critic Mick Heaney - he claimed that not only do many Brits not know much about her (no one at work in Belfast had remotely heard of Gemma, and it was only on the bus back home that I found someone remotely interested) but her album was not "new" enough, too obviously influenced by alternative rock. I don't see that as a handicap though. This "influence" may be noticeable sometimes, but her songs do have a certain freshness to them, especially in the lyrics department. Besides, it's a style that's likely to win over many new fans. Yet to be honest, I was actually quite divided on Night On My Side before last night. My opinion was that the first six songs are brilliant but then it kind of meanders after that. Four of those first six songs were in the line up: Hanging Around (probably her most famous song, and a very good one at that), Back Of My Hand (a very catchy and upbeat love song which everyone should almost certainly love), Let A Good Thing Go (here, she ventures into heavy metal territory, and with considerable success. The crowd seemed to love this one more than the others; she even let us sing one line. Admittedly it was deafening, but then that's the idea) and Ran For Miles (slow, but pleasant). Sometimes she wandered into the land of strangeness. Before the song Lucky One, she said "It works best if you close your eyes and pretend you're a bird". Huh?! Nevertheless, I tried it - it was effective, sort of. Ironically, the song is subtitled Bird Of Casadaga, so I shouldn't have been too surprised about that comment. There was also a song called I Can't Find Love ("Awww!" cried many of the fans, until she told them it was about a friend of hers). She did three encores; 4.35 a.m., Tear In My Side and Evening Sun. The first two were pleasant to listen to, and the final song was especially moving. The only complaint that I have is that the concert was too short. At the end, there was a real feeling of anticlimax, and there was no merchandise to collect. Still, you can't have everything, and the concert as a whole is probably the second best one I've seen (behind Belle & Sebastian). I doubt that I was the only one who felt it was all over too soon. Take care all, Psi __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. 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