October 9, 2008
Photos: Jamie Lidell at Metro
We admit we're still having a hard time forming a singular opinion about Jamie Lidell's show last night at Metro. We're justifiably cautious when it comes to British neo-soul singers -- hello Jamiroquai -- and what we say of Lidell's Lollapalooza set didn't exactly bowl us over. The advice of a trusted friend urging us to give him another chance in a smaller room led us to last night's show despite our reservations.
Lidell is of two minds live. On one level there is the performance of a more conventional soul-funk hybrid that veers from '70s smooth toward acid-jazz in regular intervals, bouyed by Lidell's Stevie Wonder-esque thenor. Lidell takes these templates onto the stage and revs them up with an incredibly kinetic backing band that sustain and inhuman level of energy throughout the show. These segments are best viewed as a soul revue, and for what it's worth Lidell delivers a rollicking good time to the fans.
Midway through the set Lidell takes command of the stage, sending the other musicians off, and creates soundscapes from loops he samples live. These constructs take pieces of hip-hop, soul, rock, and even rave techno, and blend them into a truly remarkable melange that is surprisingly complex while still keeping the majority of the crowd dancing in a mindless frenzy.
While we found the traditional band's performance enjoyable, we found this spectacle rather impressive. In fact we felt a little let down when the band re-entered the stage and the show resumed its regular footing. Try as they might throughout the rest of the evening -- and they certainly did their best to wring every ounce of power out of every song -- we thought Lidell was at his best when he was only using himself to create the music.
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I respectfully disagree. I certainly didn't see any "mindless frenzy" I thought it was a pretty subdued crowd actually. Jamie's nob twiddling was pretty cool and I know that's where he started before the retro soul thing took off. However, he's got a great voice and the vocoder and various effects diminish a lot his power. Personally, I thought he was best when it was him and the band. "Wait for Me" was clearly the highlight of the show last night.
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i was at this show last night. i contemplated not going because i was tired, but i left there with more energy than i had all day.
i've seen him before at lollapalooza this year and pitchfork last year (he was the sole reason i went to the latter) and last night's show put the other two to shame. the man is amazing. my only complaint is that he didn't play longer.
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Murps, I was all over Metro last night and definitely saw a lot of dancing (even if I wasn't one of those moving). By far the most frenzied moves came during his solo bit in the middle, and during "Wait For Me." And it's the first show I think I've ever seen where the crowd serenaded the band back to do an encore.
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They serenaded him back for an encore of Wait for me at his show prior to Lolla at the Abbey Pub. . .most likely a lot of the same crowd