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Gig review and pictures: Melanie Fiona at The Luminaire, London – 06/12/2010

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Rob

It’s funny how things work out sometimes. The way you expect something to be gone forever, then a string of events means you get the chance to experience something one more time. Well yesterday was a perfect example of this.

I was really upset when I found out the Luminaire was closing down. One of the best live music venues in London, gone from the gigging landscape from Jan 2^nd 2011. Following the loss of the Flowerpot only weeks earlier, it was truly sad news. Then I thought, without being able to buy gig tickets until Jan 2011 I would never be able to walk up those famous stairs in Kilburn again.

Then the a small string of events happened. Firstly, my girlfriend bought my tickets to see Melanie Fiona (this happened a while back). Then, while I was super-excited about Melanie coming back to the UK, it seems not too many others were. The gig did not sell enough to fill Scala so it was moved to a smaller venue. It just so happens that this smaller venue was… yep, you guessed it, THE LUMINAIRE!!!! One final chance to grace the venue where Natalie Imbruglia sung to me and I saw a band using a Darth Vader radio receiver as an instrument!

I love the Luminaire. It’s cosy, comfortable atmosphere. The huge discoball hanging from the ceiling. The terrible house red wine. The graffiti in the toilets. It is a venue with character, and despite being opened only a few years ago (2005 I think) it feels like its been around since the 70s.

Melanie was her usual effervescent self; a bundle of energy and vibrancy belting each and every song out with all her heart. Even in mile high golden stilettos she was able to jump around like a kid high on food colouring.

Her husky vocals and warm, honest personality held the set together. The highlight being a run of arguably her best records, Give It To Me Right, in to a dark and moody version of It Kills Me, electric guitar strumming ominously under Melanie’s powerful vocal. And then Priceless, sung with such warm sincere passion, it made me squeeze my cupcake close and I could have stayed in that moment forever.

Melanie is a fiery lady. And her songs about the darker side of love, like loving someone so much you want to kill them, add an edginess to her R&B that many others lack. Her cover version of Bruno Mars’ Grenade was menacing at times, you could feel each and every word, and every thought behind those words.

She seems to be at her best when singing reggae, her Guyanese heritage coming to the fore. Upon hearing Somebody Come Get Me, and her cover of Bob Marley, it begs the serious question; when will she put out a reggae album (or mixtape) because it would be second to none.

This was a solid show. And I cannot wait for her to come back with new material (the new album is due next year). The real star of the show was the venue though. To the Luminaire, I raise my glass, pour out a little liquor… you will be sorely missed.

Soulside Funk

Filed under: Gig Photos, Gig Reviews | Tagged: Concert, Gig, It Kills Me, London, Luminaire, Melanie Fiona, Music, new album, Photos, Pictures, Priceless, R&B, Reggae, Soul, The Bridge | Leave a Comment »

Gig review and pictures: Melanie Fiona at the Jazz Cafe (19/07/2010)

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Rob

Ok, so it’s one in the morning, I’m fighting sleep however thought I needed to post a few words on Melanie Fiona’s show tonight and urge those of you have not bought tickets to get some for tomorrow because it was mad nice (tiredness = poor choice of words).

There is something about Melanie Fiona, something that works really well live on stage. It’s more than just the way her persona matches the vibrancy and colour of the dresses she wears. It’s the way owns the stage, the way she switches from the slow and melancholy sounds of Teach Me, to the wholesome reggae vibes of Sad Songs to rampant shake ya thang’ness (its 1am, me strugglin’ for words) of Johnny without breaking sweat. She’s a natural and Melanie clearly enjoys doing what she does because and it oozes out in her performance – like the way the chocolate flows out of a warm chocolate fudge brownie. This against the backdrop of a fairly stiff (to start with) Jazz Cafe on Monday night.

The sound in 5 Parkway was on near perfection allowing every word she sung to be clear and crisp. It was in listening to those words tonight (and talking to the missus afterwards) that I noticed Ms. Fiona has a magical touch when writing songs; like she is painting a picture with the songs, one’s made especially for the eyes of the ladies who can really relate to her songs.

Is more than because she seems like a bit of girly girl in pretty dresses and cute make up… it’s in the way she constructs her songs. She comes across as a strong woman; but not too strong… just strong enough. She blends in to her music a large dollop of fragility they can hold on to. It Kills Me, Priceless and even Somebody Come Get Me demonstrate this as she growled, “ladies you ever met a man you love but sometimes you just wanna kill ‘im!!” before singing the Caribbean tinged record.

It’s not all about the song writing though, as the set was fun and creative (helped along by Ms. Fiona’s never ending energy), a cover of Heartless made me wonder this version hasn’t appeared as a B side to one of her singles yet and starting the set with Bang Bang (Nancy Sinatra’s version) before heading into her own sure fire rendition was a great. I really liked her set (if that wasn’t obvious already).

Just checked Ticketmaster and there are still seats available for Tuesday night (20^th) and I would strongly recommend going. You can enjoy her performance, superior songs and her general niceness and friendly presence because you never know when she’ll be in London again and if there’s any justice in the world she’ll be playing somewhere a lot bigger than the Jazz Cafe (without the help of Ms. Keys).

Soulside Funk