Jamie Lawson in Whelans – March 2nd 2011
Review By Vanessa Monaghan
Photos By Kieran Frost
It was a case of standing room only in Whelans for the first night of Jamie Lawson’s tour, yes, him of ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ fame. This was Lawson’s chance to shine in front of a full house and show there was more to the man than just that song.
Starting off the night was the fantastic Bill Coleman and for the only night on the tour, Alan Byrne. Both accomplished performers, the audience showed their appreciation but really wanted to see Lawson. At one point Byrne, joked that he was going to do a cover introducing ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ before admitting he wouldn’t be that bad to steal Jamie’s song.
The set dressing for the night made the venue instantly homely and intimate. A tall lamp with a lob sided shade, an armchair, and a table with a smaller lamp and picture frame. What we weren’t told before hand was that Justin Bieber would also be joining Lawson on stage. OK, so I stretched that a bit. A picture of Bieber was sitting on the table.
Lawson takes to the stage to rapturous applause and begins his set with his version of Burt Bacharach’s ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’ before playing ‘The Real Thing’. Lawson’s song ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ was a hit as a solo acoustic number so hearing full band tracks from ‘Pull of the Moon’ was interesting in whether they would have the same impact. The strength of Lawson’s writing does shine through, ‘The Last Time’ shows him in flying form. His guitar playing style almost seems like he is playing two guitar lines at the same time.
The audience is appreciative of Lawson but little pockets of chatter erupt in the venue, indicating that most people are here for ‘that’ song.
Jamie uses the full house to introduce some new music, ‘Letter Not Sent’ and the memorable upbeat ‘Lucy Rocks’ which Lawson tells us is about his music booker friend who didn’t think he could write a song about her.
At times Lawson seems overcome by what’s been happening to him over the past month or two. He thanks the audience and is totally aware that this is the first time many maybe hearing his music. As he ends the slow tempo-ed ‘Love you all the same’, he politely nods and takes a step back, indicating the end of the track.
Just as I was thinking that Lawson was very controlled in his vocals and I’d love to hear him let rip, he introduces ‘A Darkness’, what he calls ‘A love song about murder’. This song gives us the chance to see a wider, stronger vocal range, more than just the fragile vocal lines we had previously heard.
Understandably Jamie wants to leave it as long as possible to play ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ and tells us so. The surprise Irish hit of 2011 has everyone’s attention, everyone hanging on each word. It seems it may have been the first time some of the audience had actually listened to the lyrics. As the song ends to two ladies behind me are debating the happiness and sadness of the song. On stage, Lawson’s face is home to a very wide smile.
‘Moving In’, another new song from The Pull Of The Moon is introduced as Lawson tells us his album is out on March 25th. He leaves the stage to deafening applause but returns sans guitar for a beautiful a cappella version of Bill Withers’ ‘You Can’t Smile It Away’.
This was a great evening’s introduction, Lawson established himself as more that a one hit man. With the material he played, Lawson easily has material to equal or better ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’. The next few months are going to be interesting.
