Sponsored by
Neko Case/Black Gold
Black Gold are a tricky band to review. They ably supported Neko Case with a technically excellent performance yet almost all the songs were, how can I put it, predictable.
Not until close The Comedown did they move into the realm of surprise. This funky little number was a pleasure, and most unlike the rest of their country-by-numbers set.
Neko Case and her five-strong band were, as the Black Gold singer promised, flawless.
Drawing mostly from her most recent album, Middle Cyclone, they held a sparsely populated Wedgewood Rooms in thrall.
Tracks like People Got A Lotta Nerve, Middle Cyclone and Prison Girls took their place alongside Harry Nilsson and The Shirelles covers.
It could be argued that Neko Case is predictable too. But when you have a voice which soars so effortlessly and lyrics like And this dream will die, die by morning, and this dream will not remember me (from Prison Girls) well, predictable is not so much of a worry.
The band manage to slip effortlessly from folk to country but it is Neko's vocals which draw the audience in.
One woman, gently chided by Neko for recording the concert, declared her love for the 'beautiful singer' before apologising.
Special mention must go to the band, who were excellent, especially the sublime John Ross on guitar, banjo and pedal steel.
With female singer-songwriters so popular at the moment it would be nice to think that after six albums the time has come for Neko Case to step up alongside the likes of Duffy, Adele and Corrine Bailey Rae – she certainly deserves it.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
