Cardiff Student’s Union, The Great Hall

Tuesday 6 March 2007

Upon entering the venue for tonight’s performance it is swamped with a variety of, some might say, delectable types – fashionistas, wannabe socialites, students and (surprisingly) lots of men!  The Great Hall is full to capacity and the audience is getting more and more rowdy as the support act exit the stage and the roadie’s start assembling Ms Winehouse’s set.  I must say this is one of the most elaborate stage sets I have seen in the history of my attending gigs, and that is a lot!

Cardiff Student Union’s Great Hall sees a transition from musical venue to sultry boudoir; the stage aligned with an array of Charleston-esque floor lamps and a ruche velvet type backdrop with Amy Winehouse imprinted in the centre.

As the lights dim, the headliner’s band enter the stage one by one followed by a diminutive Amy Winehouse, a rapturous applause following suit.  She may well be tiny but the voice she generates most certainly is not, and the same could be said for her hair!  Dressed simply in a black vest top and jeans, Amy Winehouse is everything you expect in the flesh as what you see in the papers and magazines, however to actually hear her sing live is truly spectacular to what you see of her performing on TV or on the radio.  Whoever would have thought that this somewhat 5’3”, extremely svelte young lady could hold a voice similar to those artists such as Nina Simone and Janis Joplin (in this day and age), that can truly blow your mind away.  Along with that, Amy is accompanied on stage with a jazz band who perform just as exceptionally as the lady herself, sounding every like her CDs but just that little bit better.

Performing around an hour and a half set with album tracks and singles from current release Back to Black and debut album Frank, Amy does an ever increasingly superb job of delivering these without a hitch.  Her empowering vocals sidle through the venue with gusto, whether singing upbeat crowd stomping tunes with the likes of chart favourite Rehab and Monkey Man or causing a crowd swaying movement with Love is a Losing Game and Me and Mr Jones.  Ms Winehouse’s very own unique cover of Valerie by The Zutons also goes down a treat with Cardiff’s crowd.

Amy is usually portrayed in the tabloids as being loud, brassy, very outspoken and crude.  She displays most of these traits throughout the night, it is plain to see, but in a totally playful manner.  She is great at interacting with the audience and spends a lot of time chatting in between songs – cracking jokes with her band and telling her fans how she certainly kicks their ass at their on tour football tournaments!  What we have here is undoubtedly a young lady with more talent than some artists can shake a mic stand at – an astounding vocal ability and stage presence and she knows how to please a crowd.  I’m sure if she were to ask Cardiff if she would be welcomed back, they would say, “yes, yes, yes”!!!!

words by My-Yen Tang and photos by James Perou