Huxleys, Berlin, Germany28th November 2016
Tom Odell & support: Jane's Party + The Beach
The English singer songwriter TOM ODELL was playing an exclusive club show in Berlin last April and was already presenting his new album, ‘Wrong Crowd’ which is available now. In November, he came back to Germany for four more concerts and we checked out his Berlin show for you.
The Beach
THE BEACH is a band from London. The two guys have been the opening act for TOM ODELL this year. They say about themselves: “THE BEACH is about impact. It’s never been about what works well musically. It’s about a feeling and where it takes you. Once you’ve been taken there you spend all your time trying to be taken to that place again.” The duo is playing guitar and piano and the sound is very classic. http://www.urokmanagement.co.uk/the-beach / www.smarturl.it/TheBeachSpotify
Music & Performance
The two guys were entering the stage very quiet and sat down on little chairs. One of the chairs was placed on the piano. The light on stage looked like during a break of a stage play. Gently guitar sounds were the first thing you could hear. Followed by the piano. The voice of the singer is very high at times and if you didn't look to the stage you might have thought a woman is singing. But most of the time the voice is similar to the voice of BEN HOWARD. Or maybe not only the voice but also the structure of the songs. The mood of the songs is quite melancholic.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.5 / 10
Jane's Party
JANE’S PARTY is one of Toronto’s best-kept secrets stepping out of the shadows. They are playing together since 2006 and the music is a mix of pop and rock. These Canadians are: Devon Richardson (bass), Tom Ionescu (guitar, vocals), Jeff Giles (vocals, guitar), and Zach Sutton (drums). Their third and latest album ‘Tunnel Visions’ is produced by BLUE RODEO’s Greg Keelor and recorded at his remote farm in Southern Ontario, it’s comprised of songs about being on the road, about losing loved ones, about growing up and coming to grips with life. They’ve collaborated and shared the stage, among others, with BLUE RODEO, SAM ROBERTS BAND, THE ARKELLS, WINTERSLEEP, MATT MAYS, THE MACCABEES, MANIC STREET PREACHERS, and now TOM ODELL. They’ve come up in the world, and people are starting to take notice. http://www.janesparty.com
Music & Performance
JANE'S PARTY entered the stage powerful. Their sound is very spiritedly and rocky. Furthermore they are very good-looking guys and it was fun to watch them perform. The audience was quieter in the beginning but the boys animated them very well. Other bands should watch their show because it might be that they could learn from them. This is called support like from the picture book. Some people in the audience haven't shown their euphoria that much but it’s been pretty hard for the band to open out the berlin crowd.
Highlight of the performance was a slow song where Tom did the vocals and the audience started to turn their mobile phones’ flashes on. Jeff, Tom, Devon and Zach seem to be a good team because they make the impression they know each other very well and how they play their instruments. Obviously a lot of practice. This feeling of unity and fun to perform are not natural for most bands so this is really worth mentioning. It seemed that some songs they played are famous already and even if not they are groovy from the fist listening. Western guitar and hall, 70ies influences, good drums and an interesting song structure with a few guitar or drum solos did a unique live experience.
Overall their performance was vital and with an energetic stage acting. They have the ability to get extremely famous soon.
Setlist
01. What I've been missing
02. Cigarette Buzz
03. Til You Got Yours
04. Old Friends
05. Tiko
06. Light
07. Coming on strong
08. San Fransisco
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.8 / 10
Tom Odell
Thomas Peter Odell (born 24th November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He had his breakthrough with the songs ‘Another Love’ (2012) and his debut album ‘Long Way Down’ (2013). His second studio album, ‘Wrong Crowd’, was released on 10th June 2016. His career started when he was very young. With the age of seven he started to play the piano and a few years later he wrote his own songs. http://tomodell.com / https://www.facebook.com/TomOdellmusic
Music & Performance
Lights on... lights on the piano... lights on the piano and TOM ODELL. The mainly female crowd was screaming as he entered the stage. It was getting more and more each song he played. Unfortunately the sound wasn't mixed that well and sometimes it was hard to hear his voice. When he played ‘Another Love’, the bass was a bit to loud but it had the advantage that the people in the last row could freak out as well. Tom was wearing a black suit and a black-and-white striped shirt. Very classy and matching to the black huge piano.
In-between he raised from it, climbed down the stage and sang and danced directly to the audience at the first row. It’s not hard to imagine what happened to the girls. ;) Luckily the security had nothing to do. But the mood was boiled up. The other musicians on stage did a great job too. One female singer, two drummers, one guitar and on bass player. Unfortunately they weren't lit by the headlights. After the main set, he was coming back for a big encore bloc containing six song sin total. For ‘Somehow’, he was joined by JANE’S PARTY on stage. All in all it was a pretty good concert with a few weaknesses.
Setlist
01. Still Getting Used to Being on My Own
02. I Know
03. Wrong Crowd
04. Concrete
05. Can't Pretend
06. Sparrow
07. Heal
08. Jealousy
09. Here I Am
10. Hold Me
11. Entertainment
12. Another Love
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13. True Colors (Cyndi Lauper cover)
14. Till I Lost
15. Grow Old With Me
16. She Don't Belong to Me
17. Somehow (with Jane's Party)
18. Magnetised
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 6.5 / 10
All pictures by Nadine Ginzel (www.ginzel-photography.com)
