Jessie Ware - Live at The Sugar Club Dublin - Review

Jessie Ware's Devotion is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year and with good reason. It's a beautifully made soul-pop album that takes it's cues from the very best UK dance producers and let's her tremendous vocal prowess shine. Ware touched down in Dublin this week for a sold-out show at The Sugar Club to a room packed full of avid fans. Ware, an endearing and entertaining presence on stage, even brought up the house lights as she jokingly tried to figure out exactly who her audience was on the first night of her own solo tour.

However you could classify the crowd at the show they were undoubtedly under the spell of the British songstress. She ran through all of the material on Devotion (including deluxe edition tracks), with a tight live band adding an upbeat texture to the tracks that gave them a new sense of life in a live setting. The intimate feel of the Sugar Club, that Ware jokingly suggested was like a David Lynch film, lent itself well to be completely sucked into Ware's captivating delivery but with a surprising amount of bounce in her set it was a shame to be in a venue without more room to do a little dancing (bar a few brave souls who twirled up the front). 

Still there was little to fault about Ware's hour-long set. Album tracks like No To Love and Taking In Water sound bigger and more expansive with a willing audience and that aforementioned live band, 110% stands up as a smartly made dance song with a melancholic air while the 80s sheen of Night Light continues to be a winner. Her cover of Brownstone's 90s R'n'B hit If You Love Me was an unexpected surprise, a faithful rendition that wouldn't have sounded out of place on her own album.

The high-point undoubtedly come in the final songs, having charmed Dublin into submission Ware deploys Wildest Moments as her penultimate number, an earnest sing-along erupting amidst the crowd. Closing with Running, Ware asks the crowd to stand up pointing out that her mum will be proud she had a seated venue on it's feet. It's a blissful moment, the goodwill and slow-burning pulse Ware has been building for sixty or so minutes reaching an exuberant climax. She warmly thanks the audience before pointing out she doesn't do encores, takes a few snaps with excitable punters and departs. An accomplished and polished performer with a beautiful voice that genuinely sounds even better in a live setting, Jessie certainly did Mama Ware very proud during her Dublin show.

Jessie Ware's debut album Devotion is out now

Pop Gig Blow-Out: Kelly, J-Lo, Marina and Cheryl Live Reviews

Being a fan of pop music means that sometimes you probably don't go to lots and lots of live gigs, especially if your biggest faves are the kinds who play to fairly big audiences. Thanks to some good luck, good mates and fortunate timing I managed to see a clutch of shows in the last month and decided to give each of them a mention here. I started with Cheryl's O2 show, then Kelly Clarkson the week after in the same venue, followed by Marina and the Diamonds in the Olympia before finishing with the Jennifer Lopez show in the O2 (I was in the O2 alot basically which is actually the perfect venue for a big pop show). Below is your handy guide to each show, the highlights and lowlights.

CHERYL COLE - O2 Dublin - 4/10/12

From Girls Aloud to solo-popstar/massive celeb status in many ways it makes total sense that Cheryl Cole is now touring. But for all the glitzy, enjoyable fun of her arena show it also highlights just how she’s never quite hit her stride as a solo performer. There are plenty of slick, dance-driven moments during the A Million Lights tour but there are too many moments where the whole thing feels a bit rushed and a ballad too many threatens to derail things altogether. It’s still a fun show overall, Cole is charismatic and likeable especially when nailing those trademark moves but it's not quite the flawless romp you'd love for her to do. An encore of Fight For This Love ramps up the spectacle in a way lacking at other parts of the show and reminds you that with a few bigger hits and a bit more time she could really compete with Rihanna et al.

Cheryl is back on tour with Girls Aloud later next year, details here 

KELLY CLARKSON - O2 Dublin - 10/10/12

Between that near-perfect pop voice and her genuine air, it’s hard not to fall a little bit in love with Kelly Clarkson by the end of her Dublin show. A non-stop ride through all of her best tracks and the strongest album cuts from her recent gem Stronger mean that this is a concert that never really lets up. It’s not a big, dance-driven spectacle but Clarkson and a tight backing band whip up so much pop magic that you wouldn’t even notice. Highlights include a stunning cover of Nothing Compares 2 U that brings awed silence to the arena, a jaunt into the crowd for the underrated Already Gone and the debut live airing of new single Catch My Breath. Best is an exhilarating encore that lines up some of Clarkson’s best songs in quick succession in a final charm offensives that leaves more than a few hearts broken when she leaves.

Kelly's album Greatest Hits : Chapter One is out mid-November

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - The Olympia Theatre, Dublin - 17/10/12

Marina and The Diamonds has turned her camp-quirky-art-pop stylings into a heady mix of chart-fodder and artistic expression on current album Electra Heart. So the Dublin stop of her Lonely Hearts Club Tour has a rabid audience swooning to songs from both releases. Despite the slight change in tone between her first and second album her knack for writing sharp, brassy songs layered with wit means that nothing falls flat and her wink-wink take on female archetypes breathes life into your standard pop show. A striking beauty with an un-earthly voice and a down-to-earth presence at odds with her beaming star-power Marina held The Olympia in her thrall with just a bat of an eyelid and rightly so. 

Marina returns to The Olympia November 20th.

JENNIFER LOPEZ - The O2 Dublin - 19/10/12

Whether she’s from the block or fresh off the American Idol judging panel Jennifer Lopez still commands plenty of attention and although this is her first ever world tour you can’t help but be impressed by just how good the J-Lo live experience is. Firstly, her voice is a real surprise. It’s not big and she’s not hitting those Mariah notes but the voice you know from all those hits sounds just as good when she’s clearly singing live and even when she does an acoustic number or two (I know. I know). Better is her dancing which is completely perfect, recreating her iconic music video moves with ease. She also has a charismatic, A-list glow that is easy to be dazzled by and has a rabid audience on their feet throughout (no mean feat at a pop gig with tiered seating). By the time J-Lo has run through basically every one of her hit songs (although why Play was omitted I’ll never know) you’re left with no doubt as to Lopez chops as a performer and to why she didn’t do this world tour sooner. Stunning stuff.

JLo's Greatest Hits album Dance Again: The Hits is out now

Lady Gaga Live: Slick, Shambolic and Stunning

Still can't quite believe that I saw Lady Gaga live in concert last weekend. I won't go into it now but safe to say I've been a huge Gaga fan since mid 2008 and I've watched her blow up in the last 18 months and loved every second of it. To finally see her live show was a real treat particularly as her first night in Dublin was only the second night of the newly re-jigged arena size version of The Monster Ball tour.

Unsurprisingly for someone who has made her name on outlandish costumes, performance art pretensions and stellar pop songs there was plenty to enjoy about the show. I loved the stage, it was quite simple but managed to fit in alot in terms of props. On tracks like Alejandaro and Love Game the props and lighting worked to spectacular effect to create stark but effective backdrops for the action. The concept of the show was part musical, part pop extravaganza and all Gaga. The basic story is of Gaga on her way to The Monster Ball and the dark things that happen all the way. Cue hokey dialogue and excuses for dance routines. It works but just about. The lines seem like a deliberate play on the programmed patter of most pop shows and when it works it really works. When it doesn't it's still quite amusing. I never thought I'd hear Lady Gaga say "Oh no! A TWISTER!" on stage but I did and it was fantastic.


Other highlights? So Happy I Could Die got across the sense of isolation and desperation in a supposedly happy club scene by elevating Gaga in a S&M style dress above the whole arena. Telephone was straightforward pop amazingness with a blindingly good dance routine and Paparazzi with it's actual on stage monster was an unbelievably striking set piece. And Bad Romance was suitably epic.

There were some niggles though. The interludes between songs were stunning pieces of high fashion pretentiousness that were beautiful to look at. But there were obvious gaps where the video wouldn't play quickly enough. Between the 2nd last song and the closing number there was a two minute gap that felt like it was in by mistake. Those odd gaps tarred an otherwise slick show.


Still even with such minor faults this is a stunning piece of pop entertainment meets high brow musical theatre. It helped that I saw with a crowd that proved just how rabid Gaga fans are. Singing along to album tracks almost as loudly as the singles there was a real sense of excitement about the place extending even to the support acts Semi Precious Weapons and Alphabeat.


It's quite staggering to think that this is the fourth tour by Lady Gaga in as many months. Between that convention busting videos, endless hit singles and mind bogglingly extensive wardrobe The Monster Ball is the icing on an already satisfying pop cake. Let's hope and pray this show gets immortalised on DVD.