Institute of Contemporary Arts

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: Amy Winehouse, The Rumble Strips and Remi Nicole

Date: 25 July 2007

Wow.  Wednesday’s gig was so good, I feel rather honoured to be the one writing about it. It was excellent from start to finish and I don’t think anyone would disagree with me; Amy Winehouse was worth the wait. The wait you ask? And, well, yes, the crowds were made to wait for about an hour before Madame Amy ventured onto the stage, but such is the respect for this talented lady that her tardiness resulted in overjoyed euphoria from the crowds when she finally did arrive. People felt honoured after her run of no-shows and misbehaviour that she had come at all (the girl behind me had been to 3 absent-Amy gigs before this one), and for her to be on flying form, well it was a treat. She may have been a little spangled when she first came on, one can only guess what she’d been up to before the gig,  but she played a full and glorious set , kept on top of all her queues, embraced the audience and looked fabulous – what more could anyone ask?

The overall aesthetic of Wednesday was firmly on a 50’s/60’s theme which suited Amy’s soulful set and look. She was surrounded by a theatrical ruched velvet backdrop, like an enormous festoon blind, that had her name in glittery letters struck across the centre. She also had a big band to accompany her, all in dapper outfits providing the glitz and almost camp demeanour reminiscent of a 50’s TV show. Her  two backing vocalists were brilliantly entertaining  as they danced and sung their hearts out, and to her left we saw 3 brass players doing some groovy moves and adding to the visual yeehaa  that was Amy, dressed in a teeny Ronnettes/ Crystals style frock (that she swam around in) and that hairdo.

Amy’s full fifteen track set offered a range of different songs placing her firmly in the league of great soul singers, but she mixed things up too, and her rendition of two Specials songs showed her adeptness for singing in a reggae/ska genre as well. So did her cover of the Toots and The Maytals song Monkey Man, which saw her big band going a bit bananas and walking around the stage like the guys from Madness. Her b-side track Hey Little Rich Girls was a welcome addition but  unsurprisingly  nothing went down as well as her renditions of songs from Back To Black including the title track itself, Rehab, I’m no good,  and Wake Up Alone which she dedicated to her husband Blake Fielder-Civil;  because he wasn’t there. The audience lapped up her story about her engagement ring which she announced had just been returned to her after some alterations. ‘Now there’s no excuse to leave it at home’ she mumbled before biting her lip cheekily and adding,  ‘don’t  worry he’s not here.’  He later did arrive and swept her off to the pub immediately after the gig ended. But not before she had pleased the crowds with an encore that included Love Is A Losing Game, Mr and Mrs Jones and Valerie; Joy!  14,000 people had tried for a lottery win for this one, and only 350 people were lucky enough to make the gig. No wonder people were still dancing even after the house lights were up and the whole thing was officially over.

And one mustn’t forget the fantastic roots laid down for Amy by The Rumble Strips and Remi Nicole. Both showed elements in keeping with the Fifties feel Amy indulged in and The Rumble Strips sported rolled up shirts reminiscent of Gene Francis and The Bluetaps, and focused on acoustic noise rather than electric guitars and synthesizers. This band are not afraid to sound different to the epic indie sounds that are saturating the music scene at present (something to do with their Exter roots perhaps?) and delighted in belting out the trumpet, saxophone, classical guitar and drums to create a sound reminiscent of old high school dances. Why Can’t I Love you started with a big saxophone intro and rolling drums which I felt might have cracked into a Grease Lightening type affair.  Thankfully it didn’t in the end, all of their songs moved into a more garage band style, with punk aspects similar to an early Clash vibe, but these boys weren’t trying to be too heavy, their music  concentrates on lighter subjects, played hard. Motorcycles, Alarm Clocks and Girls and Boys in Love all proved popular - this was rock’n’roll and soulful pop all squeezed into one juicy, musical fruit.

Remi Nicole showed the most influence of current trends and the urban colloquial genre of music around at the minute (she sometimes sounds like a rough around the edges Kate Nash and you can hear the influence of The Streets) but she is a guitar girl at heart (not rnb as she told us people always wrongly presume of her) and her song Rock n Roll is a simple little acoustic based ditty with the 21^st century lyrics offering the only modern twist. Remi is a confident unassuming young lady and was happy to be snapped in the bar afterwards. Accompanied by E4’s Bradshaw (please see gallery for hilarious pictures), her parents and a few other friends she was happy to socialise with the public and let her hair down after the gig.

Which I have to admit is what I and several others did too. I mean, a girl has to have some fun after all. Yes my blog is up a day late as a result and I apologise. But we can’t have Amy Winehouse being the only rebel around town now can we?

 Torie Speyer