Gig: Paolo Nutini
Newcastle Arena. Friday, 24th October 2014.
Ah yes, the Arena - the place where good music goes to die (it probably doesn't make much difference with bad music).
Imagine if you will the crack of a snare drum. Drummer hits drum skin and from the PA comes the sound of, well... a snare drum. All good so far. However, half a second later the same sound hits your ears again, only this time reflected off and mangled by the hard surfaces inside this glorified cow shed. Lovely clear crack of the snare now sounds more like a dog farting in a wheelie bin. Now add in to the mix a selection of guitars, synths, brass and vocals. Mess. No professional musician should be forced to play in such a place.
But I digress. He played a selection of tunes from his latest album, Caustic Love, which I really like. Obviously, he played songs from his earlier albums too, which I'm not so familiar with but there wasn't a duffer amongst them. We were even treated to a couple of strripped-down acoustic numbers, just Mr N and a guitar... and he finished the night that way with Last Request, before wandering off stage in the most laid back manner imaginable.
I think Paolo and his band did a great job - at least I'm pretty sure they did - and I was more or less enjoying it by the end, but I can't help but think that if the Arena wasn't here, this gig would have taken place over two nights at Newcastle City Hall and a far better night would have been had by all.
Look, if all you want to do is get crammed into a sweaty pile of people, listen to music very loud and be in the presence of the person / people pictured on the album cover, then job done. However, if you enjoy music, really want to see the pros performing well and actually hear what they're doing, then don't - just don't - go to a gig at a venue like this. Don't.
Ah yes, the Arena - the place where good music goes to die (it probably doesn't make much difference with bad music).
Imagine if you will the crack of a snare drum. Drummer hits drum skin and from the PA comes the sound of, well... a snare drum. All good so far. However, half a second later the same sound hits your ears again, only this time reflected off and mangled by the hard surfaces inside this glorified cow shed. Lovely clear crack of the snare now sounds more like a dog farting in a wheelie bin. Now add in to the mix a selection of guitars, synths, brass and vocals. Mess. No professional musician should be forced to play in such a place.
But I digress. He played a selection of tunes from his latest album, Caustic Love, which I really like. Obviously, he played songs from his earlier albums too, which I'm not so familiar with but there wasn't a duffer amongst them. We were even treated to a couple of strripped-down acoustic numbers, just Mr N and a guitar... and he finished the night that way with Last Request, before wandering off stage in the most laid back manner imaginable.
I think Paolo and his band did a great job - at least I'm pretty sure they did - and I was more or less enjoying it by the end, but I can't help but think that if the Arena wasn't here, this gig would have taken place over two nights at Newcastle City Hall and a far better night would have been had by all.
Look, if all you want to do is get crammed into a sweaty pile of people, listen to music very loud and be in the presence of the person / people pictured on the album cover, then job done. However, if you enjoy music, really want to see the pros performing well and actually hear what they're doing, then don't - just don't - go to a gig at a venue like this. Don't.
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