REVIEW: James Morrison & Rushmore
- Posted on July 16, 2007 8:59 AM
- 4 comments
GIG OF THE WEEK
James Morrison
Tower Music Festival
by Peter Coulston
The Tower Music Festival is a very classy event which involves much more than just the music. Held in the grounds surrounding the Tower of London, this could easily become one of London’s premier attractions, weather permitting. Well, it was on Friday, and lots of people took full advantage of it, enjoying picnics of smoked salmon, seafood and strawberries while listening to the music from outside the tented enclosure which housed the stage. Champagne and Pimms were very much in evidence and a good time was had by all. The festival started on 29 June with the Gypsy Kings and has included pop legends such as Paul Anka, Joe Cocker, Brian Ferry and Elvis Costello with the classical world being represented by Katherine Jenkins and Bryn Terfel. You can get there on the District and Circle to Tower Hill or the DLR to Tower Gateway and there are lots of buses. I don’t know about parking as I guessed correctly that it would finish early making public transport a viable option. It closes tonight with Dave Stewart and his orchestra.
The show opened with Sam Beeton, a good singer songwriter who reminded me a bit of early Dylan without the anger. His music was very accessible and he had a good rapport with the audience. He is on myspace and has an EP called “First Takes”, from which he played “Best Friend”. Nice stuff. I signed up for his mailing list so I will hopefully review him again. Next we had Rushmore, a band that I enjoyed very much back in March at the Bullet Bar in Camden. Fronted by Neil and Edward Ormandy, they offer faultless harmonies over an acoustic background. They have an EP available on MySpace and a single called “Last Chance” out in September which I enjoyed for the second time. “Alone” and the upbeat but bluesy “Bright Side Of Me” are also good and I recommend you give them a listen before they become big and famous.
James Morrison made a star entrance at 9pm and kept the audience on their feet for most of the night. The sound system did not do justice to his voice in the beginning, but it sorted itself out eventually. He gave us a good selection of soul and blues which included all his hits, and took on more and more of a Springsteen persona as the evening wore on. My personal favourites were the more soulful numbers like “Pieces Don’t Fit”, Get Myself Together” “Lost Without You” and “This Boy”, which he handled with flair and conviction. For an encore, he opened with the beautiful “Last Goodbye” accompanied only by keyboard; then sent us home with some good rocky stuff which gave his excellent band a bit more room to improvise. This guy has achieved a lot in a relatively short space of time, and I can see the potential for him to develop into a well rounded performer in time. Right now, he certainly hit the spot. It was still warm as we left the venue, but not uncomfortable, even on the Tube. It’s on evenings like this that it is a joy to be in London; if only we had more of them. Anyway, here’s to next year’s Tower Music Festival, a real class event.
Were you there? Did the Tower turn up the heat? Post your reviews and general ramblings in the comments section.
Comments (4)
Rhiannon
Great gig as always by james, rushmore and sam!
I believe you mean he sang "one last chance", "better man" and "this boy"
Posted on July 16, 2007 5:42 PM
Anna
Fantastic gig from our Soul Boy James and great support from Sam Beeten and Rushmore, especially liked Sam, his lyrics and voice were Dylanesque but alot sweeter. Rushmore had great harmonies and a different style about them. The main man was as good as ever, his stage presence grows with every show. One problem - seated venue, not good for the crowd, not good for the musicians. 9.5/10
Posted on July 17, 2007 6:00 PM
husna
i hate this singer and could u plz put this msg up high on this website kk?
bye u fake showoffs ------poser!
Posted on July 19, 2007 6:09 PM
Sara Livesey
Idiotic comments by "husna" - dimwit!
Brilliant gig - James was fantastic, agree with Springsteen comment but great to have our very own British version. Great night in superb venue!
Posted on July 20, 2007 1:43 PM
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