Trouble, trouble, I've had it all my days,
Trouble. trouble. I've had it all my days,
It seems that trouble's going to follow me to my grave.
It's said that you have to pay the dues if you wanna sing the blues. Amy Winehouse is definatley paying those dues right now. Her every move is being watched and deconstructed by media outlets and fan web sites. It isn't easy being the "It" girl. Oh, but how many "It" girls have we all watched debut in the spotlight, only to melt under it's hot light?
The May 13th show in Toronto left me with the feeling that Amy is in melting mode.
The show opened with Patrick Wolf. Who I could only characterize as the child of Elton John and Ziggy Stardust if they had a baby together. Appearing in lederhosen and fairy dust sprinkled in his hair, Wolf spent his time on stage taking turns between prancing around and behind the piano making lame attempts at being cutesy, and sexy. As I watched my clock I grew more embarassed by his set. Rule of thumb for any new performer. 1. Don't ask the crowd if they are ready for the headliner. Well yes, ummm, we really didn't buy tickets to hear you wailing like an injured cat... 2. Do not start a call and response with an audience who doesn't know your material, it just smacks of desperation. 3. Never ever do a cover of the headliners' music. That's just bad taste.
Amy's band was The Dap Kings who are just about one of the best backing band out there. If you haven't heard of them check out the stuff they do with Sharon Jones. They are a tight band. So this show should be a slam dunk for Amy, right? Well, not quite.
Amy hit the stage after 10 after a short song by the Dap Kings. The night drew heavily on songs from Back To Black, which was a shame because Frank is the stronger of the two albums. The music was good as you would expect it to be with a band that is as well rehersed as the Dap Kings and her backup singers.
I won't get into the whole apperance issue, because that horse has been beaten to death. To be honest, I felt as if Amy was channelling Bette Midler in the movie The Rose. I kept wondering if she was going to drop to the floor and pass out. Amy seemed to be in another world. She sipped liquor from her cup, through out her the performance, looked up into the rafters of the ceiling many times during the songs. I looked up there too, and I wasn't seeing anything up there but black paint. At some points she even forgot the words to her songs. I felt that I was watching a child's first recital. It was almost as if she couldn't wait to get off stage. She clearly lacks the stage confidence that all blues singer have. A Blues women never shield themselves from an audience.
Trouble. trouble. I've had it all my days,
It seems that trouble's going to follow me to my grave.
It's said that you have to pay the dues if you wanna sing the blues. Amy Winehouse is definatley paying those dues right now. Her every move is being watched and deconstructed by media outlets and fan web sites. It isn't easy being the "It" girl. Oh, but how many "It" girls have we all watched debut in the spotlight, only to melt under it's hot light?
The May 13th show in Toronto left me with the feeling that Amy is in melting mode.
The show opened with Patrick Wolf. Who I could only characterize as the child of Elton John and Ziggy Stardust if they had a baby together. Appearing in lederhosen and fairy dust sprinkled in his hair, Wolf spent his time on stage taking turns between prancing around and behind the piano making lame attempts at being cutesy, and sexy. As I watched my clock I grew more embarassed by his set. Rule of thumb for any new performer. 1. Don't ask the crowd if they are ready for the headliner. Well yes, ummm, we really didn't buy tickets to hear you wailing like an injured cat... 2. Do not start a call and response with an audience who doesn't know your material, it just smacks of desperation. 3. Never ever do a cover of the headliners' music. That's just bad taste.
Amy's band was The Dap Kings who are just about one of the best backing band out there. If you haven't heard of them check out the stuff they do with Sharon Jones. They are a tight band. So this show should be a slam dunk for Amy, right? Well, not quite.
Amy hit the stage after 10 after a short song by the Dap Kings. The night drew heavily on songs from Back To Black, which was a shame because Frank is the stronger of the two albums. The music was good as you would expect it to be with a band that is as well rehersed as the Dap Kings and her backup singers.
I won't get into the whole apperance issue, because that horse has been beaten to death. To be honest, I felt as if Amy was channelling Bette Midler in the movie The Rose. I kept wondering if she was going to drop to the floor and pass out. Amy seemed to be in another world. She sipped liquor from her cup, through out her the performance, looked up into the rafters of the ceiling many times during the songs. I looked up there too, and I wasn't seeing anything up there but black paint. At some points she even forgot the words to her songs. I felt that I was watching a child's first recital. It was almost as if she couldn't wait to get off stage. She clearly lacks the stage confidence that all blues singer have. A Blues women never shield themselves from an audience.
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