Gloria, Cologne, Germany29th February 2016
Jimmy Somerville & Chris Brenner
I have to say that the Gloria is a favourite venue of me though finding a parking place is troublesome, too, like at the other venues in Cologne. Thus I was looking forward to see JIMMY SOMERVILLE for the first time. The show was sold out on this evening.
Chris Brenner
It’s not easy to find any information about this young German musician from Düsseldorf. He describes his music as new Folk Hop. On his YouTube channel he has uploaded some critically acclaimed cover versions of songs from 30 SECONDS TO MARS, ED SHEERAN, ELLIE GOULDING, JESSIE J. and THE SKRIPT. Also he uploads every week, since 2011, one video he elaborately produces with Damian Pociapowicz. But he is not only covering songs, he is also a singer/ songwriter. https://www.facebook.com/Chrisbrennermusic / https://www.youtube.com/user/Chrisbrennermusic
Music & Performance
The young German musician was opening act of the evening. Surely not an easy task to stand alone on stage with an acoustic guitar but he did quite well. He presented some nice songs and could convince the audience with good vocal qualities. Also he proved to be a good entertainer as he was constantly interacting with the audience though he seemed to be a bit nervous to me. But hey, I wouldn’t want to change places with him as I would wet my pants. Anyway he did a good performance and thus it was no wonder that he got a big applause from the audience.
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10
Jimmy Somerville
The British singer from Scotland shot to fame in 1983 with his band BRONSKI BEAT and the kind of autobiographical single ‘Smalltown boy‘ that was for many weeks in the top 5 of Germany, Switzerland and the UK and even stayed for 16 weeks in the top 50 of the USA. This song about a young homosexual who had to leave his hometown because of intolerance and rejection definitely had a big impact on young people at this time. A time where the music business, too, put a big pressure on young musicians not to live openly their homosexuality. But apart from this the extraordinary falsetto vocals of JIMMY SOMERVILLE and the great Pop melody was perfect for the dance floors of many discotheques and clubs. After two albums he left the band in 1985 and founded with Richard Cole THE COMMUNARDS. Besides own written and produced songs, both bands covered several songs and breathed new life into them and made them to dance floor fillers. The work with THE COMMUNARDS also lasted only for two albums and JIMMY SOMERVILLE decided in 1989 to pursue a solo career. He released 6 albums, the last one, ‘Homage‘, in 2015. http://www.jimmysomerville.com / https://www.facebook.com/officialjimmysomerville
Music & Performance
Two weeks ago I was at a concert that was clearly dominated by female fans. On this evening it was the opposite. And of course there were mainly people of my age who listened and danced to JIMMY SOMERVILLE’s music when he was with BRONSKI BEAT. Though the decades have passed this petite man has still excellent vocal qualities. His band comprised 2 keyboarder (one piano keyboard), a guitarist, a bassist, a drummer. Two trumpet and one saxophone player brought back the memory of the 80’s Pop sound. Furthermore a female and a male background (but despite the usual setting, positioned in front of the stage) singer who underlined the songs with a touch of Soul singing style. Already with the first song the charismatic singer got the fans dancing. The setlist was a good mixture of old songs and some of his latest album. Especially to the old songs there was no invitation needed to make the audience sing along. Every now and then JIMMY addressed to the audience with his charming Scottish accent and declared that he enjoys it very much to perform in Cologne again. Apparently so as he danced like his fans playfully. But there were also some slower songs in a row and at that point I was not so overwhelmed anymore.
There was a moment where I found it quite tiring to hear only the falsetto vocals and no real variation in his singing. But this separates me from the real fans. I like a lot of the dance tracks every now and then. Whatever, the audience was enthusiastic and everywhere happy faces could be seen. Also I have to mention that the band was really great and the “background” singers were fantastic.
Setlist
01. You make me feel (mighty real) (SYLVESTER cover)
02. Could it be love
03. Back to me
04. Why? (BRONSKI BEAT)
05. Tomorrow (THE COMMUNARDS)
06. Something to live for
07. To love somebody (THE BEE GEES)
08. Strong enough
09. Rolling
10. For a friend (THE COMMUNARDS)
11. Never can say goodbye (THE JACKSON 5)
12. Overload
13. You are my world (THE COMMUNARDS)
14. Smalltown boy (BRONSKI BEAT)
15. Don’t leave me this way (HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES)
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16. Some wonder
17. I feel love (DONNA SUMMER) / Highway to hell (AC/DC)
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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