Having been a fan since “Our Version of Events”, I’ve waited patiently for Emeli to “pop round our place” and do a gig, although granted she did perform in Cardiff in 2012 as part of the Olympic Torch Relay concerts. Needless to say, the “Long Live the Angels” tour finally came around and descended on the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff last Saturday night and did not disappoint.
For me, the arena tends to have issues with the sound from time to time and some artists can be lost in the mix. There were times this was the case on Saturday evening but only because of the attitude of some audience members around the bar area. It’s a little bit of a pet peeve of mine when you pay to see a gig, and people around spend the time just having “a bit of a chat”. If you want to talk, why would you pay good money to see a gig? Anyhow, it only annoyed me a little bit, but maybe if the gig was all seated people might’ve spent more time watching/listening, instead of talking?
From the outset of the evening, Emeli kicked off with the first single from ‘Long Live the Angels,’ and you could feel the anticipation inside the venue. No special tricks, massive screen or pyrotechnics – just Emeli and her band. No choreography, just a tight sounding unit of sound that doubled up as her backing dancers, special mention to the brass section on that.
Even if you weren’t a massive fan of her work before, you’d definitely leave more knowledgeable, with all the hits including ‘Next to You,’ ‘Wonder,’ and ‘Read All About It,’ plus the new track EP track ‘Starlight.’
If that wasn’t enough, the B Stage and the baby grand piano brought her closer to the audience. Stand out highlight for me was the version of ‘Clown’ and ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ – two proper hairs on the back of your neck moments.
If you were there earlier enough, you’d have been lucky to hear the talented Calum Scott as support. So far you may only know him for his Robyn cover of ‘Dancing on my Own’ needless to say, bigger things are to come from this former Britain’s Got Talent star.
Special mention to all those people that left after ‘Next to Me’ thinking that was it. “Well, she’d said her thanks and had played all her hits…”. Quick tip for next time, until the house lights go on, the gig is still on. Always remember, there’s always an encore (or if your Paul McCartney in Cardiff a few years back, there’s 3 encores). Always fun to watch people leave, the music start back up and watch them drift back “Well, we wanted to beat the rush”.
Her voice is faultless, It’s full of soul, gospel, r&b, and a whole load of quality.
You might not be a fan at the start, but by the end, you’ll be reading all about the wonder, next to me.
REVIEW: Patrick Downes