Picture the scene. A muggy, murky Wednesday night in Belfast and the crowds are waiting expectantly for Scottish tunesmith Paolo Nutini. When he does finally hit the stage, going straight into ‘10/10’, the sell-out crowd start dancing en masse. For the next hour and a bit, the croaky voiced singer plays his pop soul music in front of an appreciative Belfast crowd, in an oddly low key fashion, “like what they used to do years ago.”
Live, young Paolo can be hit or miss on occasion: anyone who saw him at Oxegen this year, for example, will know that his voice can be temperamental at times. Thankfully though, this evening he keeps his head down and rattles his way through ‘Growing Up Beside You,’ ‘Funky Cigarettes’ and more and the voice stays strong throughout. What I don’t understand is why he barely speaks to the crowd. Is it just a case of terminal shyness?
The beautiful ‘Candy’ warms the cockles on a cold August night and set closer ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’ has matured into a monster of a number. Encore-wise Paolo remains monosyllabic, but throws a curveball in the form of a cover of MGMT’s ‘Time To Pretend’. Not the worst way to end the evening at all...