James Morrison is soon going to have a lot more in common with a certain Mr. Blunt than his first name and rather foppish demeanour. Judging by the reaction of the female half of tonight’s crowd (and a sizeable chunk of the fellas too, it has to be said) the 21-year-old Londoner will soon be sitting pretty in the upper reaches of the charts.
But, while the ‘You’re Beautiful’ crooner has a voice that drives non-fans to distraction, Morrison has been compared to past and present soul legends like Al Green, Otis Redding and his name-sake Van. On the evidence of tonight’s mini showcase, the comparisons may prove to be justified.
His brief five-song set leaves the crowd wanting a lot more. It’s his first time playing here, he informs us, as he introduces ‘You Give Me Something’ – but if he’s nervous he hides it well. With just a keyboardist and his own guitar for company, Morrison’s rich voice is the focus of attention. He introduces ‘This Boy’ as a song that meant a lot to him when he wrote it as a teenager, and it obviously still does judging from the way he sings it.
While the Otis and Van comparisons are certainly not without basis, as ‘Better Man’ testifies, he does have a tendency to be slightly overwrought at times, undermining the inherent power of the material – though this isn’t an opinion shared by the lady in the crowd who demanded to know what hotel he was staying at, as he delivered the bad news that ‘Wonderful World’ was to be his last number of the evening.
Judging by the ecstatic cheering that accompanied him off stage when he finished, it won’t be too long before James Morrison is back. Most likely with a hit album to promote...