A quite extraordinary night. Even the weather seemed to know something was up - thunder and torrential rain accompanying gig-goers into Oxford Street's hole in the wall the 100 club, ready to appraise the deservedly hyped Warp singer.
I suspect a few of the recent converts to Lidell's brand of funk and soul felt tricked to begin with. Not for this man the easy option - no backing band, save a cameraman/technical wizard wearing headgear reminiscent of The Silence of the Lambs' Buffalo Bill. No, Lidell did everything himself - at times vocalist, beat box, multi-instrumentalist and DJ.
Opening alone with a one-man acappella, he then proceeded to play a game of two halves. First up, a tour de force of beat box tricks and turntable gymnastics, unbroken for a good forty-five minutes as a vocalised DJ mix. The full range of his voice was briefly exploited, although struggled to rise above the distorted beats at times. An intense mixing style kept the audience captivated, despite Lidell's admission to being knackered after Glastonbury. No worry, for a medicinal whisky reinvigorated the vocal chords for the second half.
Here the much vaunted Lidell tones were given more room to breathe, even if the audience were still fighting to catch theirs! The "walking, talking question mark" of What's The Use? was recast over a backing of Eminem's Guilty Conscience, lending it a macabre tone. The real stunner, however, was a fifteen-minute version of When I Come Back Around, taken on a stylistic rollercoaster through house, techno, funk and back again; Lidell introducing crazed piano riffs along the way. The lyric "Don't ask me why I do that stuff" never seemed so appropriate!
By this time the audience were whipped into a frenzy, and his reversion to sing along soul for the closing Multiply was greeted with euphoria, the crowd wreathed in smiles. Even here Lidell had tricks up his sleeve, as the beats fractured, the tempo grew and the intensity became white hot once again. The lights went up, and still he carried on, subsiding after five minutes or so in a torrent of white noise.
For energy, creativity and sheer balls this gig took some beating, although it would have been good to hear a bit more of Jamie's extraordinary voice, an instrument that at times defied belief. Those expecting fireworks were not disappointed, and, heads buzzing, we stumbled back into reality, convinced we had seen something quite unique.
share with:
