A man who has only been in the public eye for a couple of years,
yet guaranteed to sell out at top speed whenever he announces
a UK date.
Thankfully, this time I got in there early and this Thursday just
passed I had the pleasure of seeing Gregory Porter and his
quartet perform live to the crowds of the Oval Space in my birthplace
of East London.
As it was a packed venue, most of the tunes were relatively
upbeat though some of the slower offerings such as "Be Good"
and "On My Way To Harlem" were performed at just a slightly
faster tempo.
Crowd participation was encouraged with plenty of handclap
rhythms and not forgetting the call-and-response refrain
of Porter's signature song "1960 What".
Porter's backing band were on fine form as well, I was particuarly
surprised that piano player Chip Crawford was playing on an upright,
due to the stage space, but it still sounded amazing and matched
the intimate quality that oozes through the albums themselves.
Due to where I was standing, I couldn't really get a great photo
of the band (though that may also be due to me owning an inferior
brand of smartphone) but hopefully this shot gives a sense of
perspective.
And on that note Porter treated us to some new material from
his forthcoming album "Liquid Spirit" including the title track
and one that struck a chord on a personal level "Hey Laura, It's Me"
about an unrequited love.
The band returned for an encore, which as requested by the
hyped-up crowd, was the Grammy nominated "Real Good Hands"
a delightful ballad about asking for the blessing from a fiance's parents.
Overall it was a superb gig, and given the wide space of the venue,
I thought the acoustics were brilliant.
I'd still love to see Porter perform in a more intimate venue mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment