09/06/2010 | Amy MacDonald – Hard Rock Cafe, Mayfair

This was to be my third time seeing Amy Macdonald. In fact, it was only in April when I last saw her, but this gig was something different. The intimacy of The Hard Rock Café won the whole crowd over; there couldn’t have been more than one hundred people in the bar area. As Amy and her four male band members opened with An Ordinary Life I remembered the quality of live performances Amy likes to deliver. Strong vocals and guitar playing on her part combine to create a real stage presence.

From her first song she went straight into Love Love before she spoke to the crowd and she told us that this was her third gig at the Hard Rock. Her last appearance had seen her smashing a guitar up outside and she joked that this was not something she hoped would be repeated this evening. Maybe she is more Rock’n’Roll than I first thought. The next song was introduced to us as being her next single with a video that had been filmed only the day before. Unlike previous videos, Amy told us that they’d gone all out and used around fifteen actors and actresses so I am anticipating what the outcome will be. This particularly excites me as the song in question happens to be my favourite from A Curious Thing and is called This Pretty Face.

Her biggest hit, Mr Rock And Roll, suited the venue perfectly and had the crowd singing along and she then shushed the crowd with the Glaswegian slang “Wheesht” before her quieter song Troubled Soul.  Her Springsteen cover Born To Run went down really well in this particular venue with everyone joining as she sang the lyrics of the title. Continuing with her two singles from her new album, Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over and Spark, Amy never once disappointed. Sure, I’d have loved to see an acoustic song thrown in, but her and her band delivered track after track.

Before No Roots, Amy told a story about how this album was named. Laughing at her Mum’s suggestions that had generally been thought up whilst watching Coronation Street, Amy eventually opted for the lyric from this song. I for one find it preferable to listening to an album called Ken Barlow! Amy then told us that she would normally go away and wait for cheers before coming on and doing an encore, but in such a small venue we would be able to see everything and it would be a ‘bit shit’. So we clapped for her as she stood on stage breaking into This Is The Life, the title track of her debut album. It was a great to song to end an impressive set with the crowd lending their vocal skills in the chorus.

www.amymacdonald.co.uk