Jools Holland is back with a new series of BBC2 shows. Over the years of transmission, "Later..." has been about the only decent regular music show aired on any of the terrestrial UK TV channels. It's a crying shame that there hasn't been any competition in late night musical entertainment to this show apart from Channel 4's hopeless 90s farce "The Word".
I often wonder what kind of world these TV executives live in, when one considers that music is still a vital cultural and recreational pursuit for a great number of UK individuals. They show zero interest in the fact that concert venues are regularly full with festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and T In the Park continually shifting vast amounts of tickets. Admittedly, BBC show extensive coverage of the festivals, but what are the rest doing? Absolutely nothing! Perhaps Simon Cowell has some influence on the type of music ITV are allowed to air?
Last night's show was mainly great with 6 diverse acts, opening with Kings Of Leon and closing with Metal veterans Metallica.
Here's the breakdown.
Kings Of Leon opened with a stirring version of their number 1 single "Sex On Fire". The Followill boys have honed their sound to tight perfection during this year's summer shows, and although visually they're not the most engaging act in the world, Matthew Followill's searing guitar lead, and Caleb Followill's rasping vocal performance guarantee memorable entertainment. I've grown into Kings Of Leon over the years and am looking forward to hearing the new album. Their debut was rather over hyped, but with each successive release the band have got better resulting in "Because Of The Times" being in my top 10 albums of 2007.
9/10
Island Record's V V Brown was next up with "Crying Blood". She's a 24 year old singer songwriter with a penchant for B52's hairstyles and combines a rare mix of 60s beat pop with current indie/dance pop. The energetic performance was full of fresh charm and although the chorus of the song resembled "The Monster Mash", she is definitely one for the future.
7/10
Sadly the show dipped badly with the introduction of Sway DaSafo performing his new single ("Saturday Night Hustle") with soul/R&B singer and former "Fame Academy" contestant Lemar. The song is a poorly rehashed version of Alexander O'Neal and Cherrelle's top 10 R&B classic from 1985 "Saturday Love". What made matters worse was that I honestly couldn't tell if this was a live performance or a Karaoke lypsynch. Taped backing vocal tracks, mumbling rhymes and although Lemar tried to hold things together, it was a far from convincing performance.
3/10
Then came the scoop! French first lady and former model Carla Bruni stepped up to deliver a song from her latest album "Comme si de rien n'était". The gentle folk of "Tu es ma came" was relaxed, unassuming but unfortunately highlighted Mrs Sarkozy's thin vocal performance. French chanteuses can get away with a lot because let's face it, the language is made for a romantic musical backdrop, but I wasn't fooled...she's not the greatest folk singer.
5/10
As if to highlight Bruni's vocal deficiencies, Neptune New Jersey singer/songwriter Nicole Atkins burst through a confident performance of the opener from her 2007 "Neptune City" album, "Maybe Tonight". Atkins is an openly expressive vocalist who rises and swoops the scales effortlessly. Personally, I'm not convinced that the song was strong enough (a little too Radio 2), but the performance was genuine, and her band were well versed, with the addition of a sweet string section to complement proceedings.
7/10
And finally to close the show, Metallica. Now I have to confess here that over the years I've had an up and down relationship with Mr Hetfield and co. For me, (a major fan of everything up until the Black album), the expectation was for another sloppy re-run of tired riffs and self absorbed jamming exercises (as on "St. Anger"). My expectations weren't great and the opening couple of minutes of "The Day That Never Comes" didn't allay any of those negative thoughts with its typically downbeat ballad style. Then completely out of nowhere the bridge of the song transforms into a rip snorting fast paced powerhouse of a song. Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett pull off a remarkable dual lead guitar solo, and drummer Lars Ulrich delivers a blistering rhythm to drive the song forward. It's a welcome surprise and deservedly the band got the biggest cheer of the night. Maybe my faith in the band is restored ? Who knows ? I'm off to the store to buy the album.
9/10
All in all, a good show and a more than welcome return for Jools and his team.
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