Every now and then the warm-up act turns out to be the main reason to go to a pretty big show.  I’ve done it many times in my wild gig going years and there are plenty of shows that if I had known who the warm-up was  I would have made more effort to go (Zarif supporting Beyonce… still upsets me to this day I missed out).  Tess Henley supporting Jon B at the Jazz Cafe in December is another one of those moments.

I recently discovered Tess Henley and have fallen in love with her quirky laid back soul music.   The thought of her playing the Jazz Cafe is mouth-watering.  However, also tinged with sadness as she is an artist I would love to see play an entire show all to herself.  I’m not sure if a short 20 min set warming up for Jon B will be enough to fulfil my appetite; that’s barely enough time to fire through Something to Say, Vultures, Heartless Queen, and Daydreaming, let alone the other gems on High Heels and Sneakers as well as whatever new wonders from her older albums I haven’t discovered yet (yes I demand a lot from my gigs, lol).

Tickets are £22 (+booking, postage, cleaning contribution, light-bulb insurance and whatever other fees Ticketmaster can concoct).  The shows are on 18th and 19th December.

It is a personal dilemma at the moment, so personally I am going to hold off from buying tickets just in case she announces a solo show in London.  I don’t really have a desire to see Jon B (although I am informed on good authority his shows are pretty epic) so fingers, toes, arms, legs are crossed she does managed to sort a solo show on her travels (and more importantly, that I find out about it, lol).

Update 11.12.2013 – Unfortunately Tess Henley has had to cancel her trip to the UK 😦 – let’s hope she can make it over in 2014

Rob