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12th April 2006 - The Palais Theatre, Melbourne - Australia
Setlist
- Wind Cries Mary
- Mind Trick
- 20 Something
- Get Your Way
- What A Difference A Day Makes
- (So Sick / Gold Digger / One Thing) into
- Frontin?
- These Are The Days
- Old Devil Moon
- Photograph
- Lover You Should Have Come Over
- Liar Liar
- London Skies
- All At Sea
- Nature Boy
- High & Dry
- Encore
- I Get A Kick
- Could Have Danced All Night
Reviews
13 Apr 2006
from Ajay
The concert was amazing! From the second Jamie walked out onto stage til when he waved goodbye, he was a breath of fresh air and full of life! His charisma and charm blew my mind, I didn't expect the concert was going to be so much fun! The staff at the Palais were apalling and Jamie knew, and invited everyone to come closer, which we all did. His voice is amazing, even when he was running around the crowd with nothing but cupped hands as a microphone, he sounded as good, or even BETTER, than on CD. The only negative was the merchandise team should have ordered a LOT more female tshirts! Jamie, Please come back to Melbourne soon!
13 Apr 2006
from Rose
The Palais is a retro looking theatre situated alongside Melbourne's iconic St Kilda Beach and Jamie added so much personality and vibrance to the place! His tunes bubbled over with passion, clearly revealing his love and enthusiasm for music. As usual he performed with great physicality and told jokes between songs, responding to whoever called out from the audience with a natural charm and charisma. The gig began with everyone neatly seated and ended with the whole theatre jumping up and down like lunatics (even the Mum's and Dad's!) to Latin American drumming. The band began feasting on drum beats and started screaming/stomping/shaking and whacking any object in sight, finally ending with Sebastian utilizing his head as a drum! There was also a stunning saxophone solo that left me wanting more. The highlights of the night included a re-adapted version of ëTwenty Somethingí, a funky version of ëFrontiní that I couldnít resist dancing to and a larger than life version of ëLover You Should Have Come Overí. However, it was Jamieís version of ëHigh and Dryí which made the night. This was honestly sung with such unexpected subtlety and vulnerability that it consumed everyone there. ëHis voice sounds like liquid honeyí whispered my friend. Looking around at the transfixed audience, I knew she was right. A remarkably spirited performance that certainly won't be overlooked in art-loving Melbourne.
13 Apr 2006
from Alice W
The very foundations of the grand old Palais were rocked last night when Jamie & Co arrived. This wasn't going to be any old gig, architects should have been as concerned about the going's on as the security people obviously were. Entreaties from Jamie for everyone to get off their seats and jump up and down sent them into a spin, 'this isn't allowed' seemed to be their attitude, but in good old Australian style, they were duly ignored and encouraged to get involved! Seb proved that playing those drums isn't as easy (if it ever does) as it looks, showing his skill drumming everything and anything, even his head! From wandering around in the crowd seranading some very willing girls to someone throwing a pair of very over-sized undies up on the stage 'Commitment's style', Jamie and his crew of very fine musicians showed how it was really done, and very few people who were fortunate to be there will every forget it, and nor will their hearing! Rock on Jamie and Co and come back soon!
13 Apr 2006
from Ruwi
fully one of the best nights of my life! especially since i got to meet him and everything, i'm still all hyped up!! cannot WAIT for the next time he comes!
13 Apr 2006
from Bobo
This was my first ever live concert, appart from local bands at the pub in Traf. I have been 'into' Jamie for about three years now, but I missed him the first time he cam to Australia so when I heard he was coming to Melbourne - I was there. I was in the Lounge so I had a pretty good view of everything going on - without beng too far back. The only downside was when he walked around in the audience (singing Nature Boy accompanied only by Geoff and the occasional aid of microphone - it was wondeful) and when people started moshing in front of the stage - (which I sadly couldn't join in with)- but other than that, the concert was AMAZING!!! After the support act had finished there was a break before Jamie came on and REVVED the CRAP out of the audience with a PSYCHO version on 'Wind Cried Mary', in which he bashed his piano - not only with his hands (arms etc)- but with the chair, his head, and his backside. Then the second he'd finished he jumped onto his keyboard and performed 'Mind Trick', before introducing himself and his band to the audience and chatting us up a bit. It really is amazing how he just seems to play around on the piano and whatever song his musings turn into is the song he'll do next - it really is amazing and incredibly entertaining. Some highlights were when he did 'What a difference a day made' - in which he did the most amazing improv - his hands just seem to slide over the keys, flawlessly - and 'London Skies' - where he BASHED his drum and collapsed before keeping on going ... And of course - 'Nature Boy' in the audience, and 'Twenty Something' - he JUMPED!!! He did the Piano Jump!!! I couldn't believe it ... And ALL the jokes he made about the songs he hears on the radio - verrrry clever Jamie, verrrry clever ... And 'I get a Kick out of You' ... EVERYTHING! It was AMAZING! I couldn't have asked for anything more, it was amazing. THANK-YOU FOR AN AMAZING NIGHT JAMIE!!! COME BACK TO AUSTRALIA AGAIN SOON!!! I'll be there ...
14 Apr 2006
from Nicole
In one word BRILLANT!!!! You have left me speechless!You not only blew me away but the entire audience. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart for taking the time for the meet and greets, photos, autographs and kisses. Keep up the fantastic work.Luv u Jamie, Luv Nicole xoxoxox
15 Apr 2006
from Speechless k.e.w
After a riotous opening playing the piano with his stool, Jamie continued with his usual flamboyance, genius improvisation and quick humour to bring an unforgettable performance to his grateful Melbourne audience. The head spinning climax to the evening was his entry into the audience seating area where he proceeded to sing to the audience without a microphone, without his backing band, with only his hand cupped to his mouth and the electric double bass, Jamie crooned his heart out to an incredulous and ecstatic audience. A shrine for Jamie is now under construction (well, at least there should be). He was luminous-astounding!
15 Apr 2006
from Jess :)
Hey jamie and Crew, I saw you at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne last wednesday, and you didn't fail to mesmerize me AGAIN, like you did a couple of years ago at the Yarra Valley concert! As soon as you came on stage, you immediately blew us all away with 'Wind Cries Mary' and didnt waste any time by jumping straight into telling us the jokes you said you worked on all day, and amazing us with your talented voice!!! Not to mention your CRAZY but still amazing as ever dancing skills! lol You definitely impressed me with your version of "Gold digger" and "So sick of Love songs" even if you did kind of forget the words, you covered it up really well, with some umming and ahhhing!!! :) The amount of energy and enthusiasm you show to you're audience is outstanding. How you can jump around stage like that and still manage to sing like a gem, I don't know, but i love it! I particularly loved the Crazy Drumming Session you, Seb, And Geoff performed. Too bad the security guards would let us come up on stage with you, that would've been awesome!!! I hoped to be able to meet you afterwards, but the fear of the car being locked in the car park interfered! haha Overall...it was a fantastic night that i'll never forget! Thanks to everyone! Congrats jamie on you're success, and please come back to Melbourne soon! Jess xoxo :)
16 Apr 2006
from Alecia
Having seen Jamie in concert in July 2004, I knew I was in for a good time. However, Jamie exceeded my expectations with a brilliant and energetic show. Highlights included Jamie singing 'Nature Boy' in the stalls amongst the audience, accompanied by the wonderful Geoff Gascoyne on bass; the Canivale-esq extension of 'London Skies'; Sebastiaan De Krom's show-stealing solo; and the audience participation in 'High and Dry' which sounded, as predicted by Jamie, amazing. I was also lucky enough to see Jamie at the Melbourne airport the next day, and he was kind enough to autograph my hastily bought second copy of 'Catching Tales', and give me a kiss on the cheek when I told him I'd flown over from Tasmania just for the concert. Thanks for coming back to Australia, Jamie! Please come back soon, there's a lot of pianos that haven't been on the receiving end of a good Jamie Cullum belting.
16 Apr 2006
from Darsie
Jamie and band, thankyou so much for such a memorable experience last Wednesday night (12-Apr-2006). I've been requested to write a review to be published in one of the Melbourne street press magazines "Inpress", and thought you might be interested to see it (it'll probably get cut for being so long, but it was such a huge show, I couldn't really leave any of it out): __________________________________________________ Jamie Cullum – Palais - 12-Apr-2006 If you expected Jamie sitting at his piano, and his band standing solemnly on the stage with their instruments, batting out track after track, then you had another thing coming. Jamie Cullum and his band are true entertainers, and their show on Wednesday night was far from dull. Their fans, people from all ages and groups, came together to add to a fantastic show, and one that I’ll remember as being one of the best live shows I’ve seen so far. Jamie came out in the token jeans and sneakers, adding a shirt and jacket to the mix. After the first four tracks however, the shirt and jacket were soon shed, “I always try to come out looking respectful” he said as he lost the shirt, “but I always end up in a t-shirt” The t-shirt he wore was recently purchased from a store on Brunswick street, and (to those not quire close enough to see) he simply questioned “Where else can you get a t-shirt with men with sheep’s heads?” Taking tracks from album’s “Twenty Something” and the new one, “Catching Tales”, the show was a definite crowd pleaser, and got everyone involved. From the audience, you could see Jamie Cullum and his band love entertaining. With Jamie running up and down the stage; playing his piano with his feet; and tapping and bashing the woodwork with his hands, for him, this is not a sit down show. Starting off with ‘Mary”, The song listing, though they noted to never be preset as they just go with the flow, was chock full of their finest, including “Devil Moon”, “These Are the Days”, “All At Sea”, and newies “Get Your Way” and “Photograph” and heaps more. One of my personal faves, ‘Frontin’’, a rendition of a Pharrel track, was absolutely sensational. Bringing in some saxophone and going into some major instrumentals, made for a huge track. As was ‘London Skies’, where, in the first chorus the lyrics were slightly changed to “Melbourne Skies”, then went into a tribal sounding vibe with bongos and a kazoo, and ending with Jamie collapsing with exhaustion on stage, only to get up, laughing and clapping, and back into it again. He admitted to being a “music nerd” and explained that he loves listening to the radio. This was incorporated into the show, deriving snippets from Kanye West’s “Golddigger”, Amelie’s “Trippin’, and the Pussycat Dolls’ “Doncha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me”, though with a bit of ad-libbing became “Doncha wish your boyfriend was short like me”. Other redone tracks from “Twenty Something” that featured in the show included Jeff Buckley’s “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” and the final track, Radiohead’s “High and Dry” Did I say final track? Well, you’d think that after a two hour show, including Jamie grabbing his extremely talented bass player, Geoff Gascoyne, and while continuing to play, both came down from the stage into the crowd – Jamie at times pocketing the microphone, cupping his hands to create a manual megaphone and letting the walls of the Palais echo his strong vocals – that your money for your ticket was well spent. But what’s a show like this with an encore? The band again graced the stage and took back their instruments to play “I Get A Kick Outta You”, followed by the drummer, Sebastian De Krom, having some fun of his own. Starting with a highly entertaining drum solo, then stating “That’s what I call ‘playing the theatre’”, Sebastian took his drumsticks and proceeded to get a beat out of practically everything on the stage. At this point, Jamie took his place at the drum kit, and the band had an all in jam session, ending with Sebastian pinching one of the cymbals and it ending up on his head as he knelt at the front centre on the stage. The last (really this time) track of the evening was “I Could Have Danced All Night” and Jamie took the opportunity to get everyone jumping. From the stall perspective, the audience had remained standing from when the band came back for the encore. With a bit of a build up, Jamie ensuring everyone in the audience would be involved, the ‘1..2..3..4..” was followed with absolutely everyone jumping up and down to the music. The walkways were full of fans jumping with their hands in the air. The music, then started to calm down. Jamie, alone on stage, and sitting at his piano playing lovely, gentle notes and letting them travel through the venue, split the audience down the middle and instructed each to sing a simple tune – one higher and one lower – and brought them together while singing his own. It was such a beautiful, harmonious sound. After a non-stop, two and a half hour show, I hope all the other members of the audience left that night feeling the same way I did – not just seeing one of your favourite musicians and bands at their best, but being a part of it. ______________________________________________________
05 May 2006
from Kate
ditto to all the above comments - absolute genius of a musician and at jazz improvisation - not to mention the voice and the emotion in the voice - where was the rest of Melbourne? Come on radio give this seriously talented guy and his muso's some radio time.
10 Jan 2007
from Beck
Cullum Plays A Catching Tale The first time I ever saw Jamie Cullum, I thought he was very naughty. It was 2003, I was seventeen, and I was watching the Queen’s Birthday Party on the telly. After performances by many well-known artists, on came this hyperactive, piano-bashing jazz kid. Having myself an intense respect and warrant of care for any piano I’ve ever touched, I was shocked to watch this kid pounding out the beat on the frame of his grand. Who could have known that, just three years later, I would have three of that kid’s albums on permanent rotation in my cd player…and be trucking off to his concert at St Kilda’s Palais Theatre? What a mindtrick. (Sorry J.C. fans, couldn’t resist.) I took my mum as a date. I promised her she’d like it. She wasn’t out of place in the audience either. Jamie has a broad fan-base, ranging from seventeen-year-old girls who’ve recently out-grown the Jesse McCartney phase, to sixty-year-old men who are filled with nostalgia for the days of Sinatra. However, for the main part, the audience was made up of twenty and thirtysomethings who are drawn to Cullum’s musicianship, passion, and up-to-the-minute wit. At eight-forty p.m., Jamie Cullum – combining a suit and tie with scruffy hair and sneakers – strolled onto the stage, swilling a can of Guinness. As his band took up their instruments, Jamie paused and waved to us. Then he took another sip. I couldn’t help but laugh. After placing the can on the floor right stage – safely stored for later – Jamie took to his piano. Sitting hunched over the keys, he nonchalantly eased the band into their Hendrix cover, Wind Cries Mary. With a smile and a chuckle, Jamie delivered the first verse so casually it was cool. The crowd’s anticipation was palpable – what would he do next? We all knew his reputation. Perhaps the Guinness had relaxed him too much? As Jamie came to the hook – ‘the wind whispers…’ – the tension finally became too much for one woman: when he delayed just too long, she screamed out ‘Mary!’ Jamie, grinning from one ear to the other, breathed the name into his microphone in reply. It lingered a moment. Then the drums kicked in and Jamie leaped up, knocking over his piano stool. And we were in. Jamie bounced, bopped and moshed as he pounded the keys, his mop of hair flipping around with every movement. I began to suspect there was red cordial, or perhaps Red Bull, in the can he’d left right stage. Towards the end of the song, he went crazy in trademark Jamie style: slamming random groups of notes with flat hands, kicking up his heels on the keyboard, using his butt to mash the keys. Though I had expected something of the sort eventually, it was quite confronting so early on in the performance. I felt a tug at my heartstrings for the poor piano. And yet, it was fantastically entertaining. Move over Robbie Williams, Jamie Cullum is in town. He may play jazz, he may listen to R’n’B, but he is a rock-star. It’s not surprising, really. Jamie’s songs, though predominantly jazz based, blur the lines between musical genres. His albums are a successful melding of jazz, pop, rock, trip-hop, dance, R’n’B, funk, and even samba. His second song of the night – the present single Mindtrick – is more Stevie Wonder-flavoured electro-funk than pure jazz. Jamie switched from his grand to a retro electric piano for this song, lyrically setting the tone for the night: ‘If there’s music in the night and it’s really, really right, it’s the only thing I need’. Taking a moment to ditch his jacket (and later the shirt and tie, leaving just a t-shirt that had pictures of men with sheep’s heads on it), Jamie welcomed us to the show: ‘It’s great to be here in Melbourne. This theatre’s so retro, I feel like we should be doing a Vaudeville revue or something…but some parts of the show might be like that anyway’. Jamie seems to love a chat almost as much as playing music – he had no qualms about pausing to tell a story or joke. He introduced the band: saxophonist Tom Richards, trumpeter Sam Wedgewood, bassist Geoff Gascoyne, and drummer Sebastiaan De Krom. Jamie and his band-mates are very tuned into each other – and I’m talking about more than just their pitch. It’s especially true of Gascoyne and De Krom, who’ve played with Jamie since 2002’s Pointless Nostalgic. Through the many improvisations, they followed each other effortlessly. It’s as if they have a secret language of glances – that or telepathy. Back at the grand, Jamie fiddled about, even playing a few bars of a Beethoven piece – which earned a laugh – then slowly turned it into his signature song Twentysomething. (At twenty-six, he still has four years before it reaches its expiry date.) Oh, we love that song. It encompasses all that is Jamie Cullum: jazzy piano stylings, quirky musical twists, scatting, sardonic wit, and an underlying search for what it’s all about. And, in this live version, a half-vault over his fallen piano stool. We gave a cheer as he stepped upstage to pointedly sing ‘I’ll keep being me’. He followed that with the R’n’B styled Get Your Way. The track (bar vocal) was played on vinyl, spun by Jamie on a turntable atop the grand. Disc-jockeying done, he danced his way through this song, performing with gusto. Though he bopped around with endless energy (I’m sure it was Red Bull…), his warm, rugged voice remained strong, even and expressive. A nostalgic air pervaded the jazz classic What a Difference a Day Made. Then this unpredictable entertainer introduced us to some songs he heard on the radio: Ne Yo’s So Sick and Kanye West’s Gold Digger. He beat-boxed through the latter, slowly morphing it into his Pharrell Williams cover, Frontin’. His fingers, with an instinctive knowledge of where to go, skimmed the keys like pebbles on the water. He used clashes – accidental or not – to his advantage, in the way of a truly experienced performer. And then he reigned it in, leaving room for Richards to improvise a magnificent saxophone solo. It was the same for De Krom during the encore – the longest drum solo in the history of man, utilising everything from the drum kit, to the microphone stand, to the actual stage. (‘This is what I call playing a theatre’, De Krom quipped.) Jamie took us through These Are The Days, Old Devil Moon, All At Sea; through Liar Liar, a song he wrote on tour (‘I make other people’s songs sound like my own…I’m a liar, like you.’); through his next single, Photograph, which included a comically-timed rendition of Pussycat Dolls’ Don’t Cha (‘Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me…don’t you wish your boyfriend was short like me?’). For Nature Boy, he took it down. Literally. Into the stalls, with just Gascoyne on bass as accompaniment, and his microphone turned off. The audience listened in awed silence, those in the dress circle craning to see. He opened London Skies with a joke – ‘Those skies are what make us the miserable, slightly sarcastic, pale people we are’ – and ended it with a percussive world-music tribute to the Notting Hill Festival. Setting out in a spirit of fun and play, Cullum ensures that both he and everyone else in the room – except the security guards – have ‘a damn good time’. This sneaker-wearing, non-new-age-crooning, music-nerdy Londoner has a charisma that you immediately sense, a self-deprecating humour that Australians just love, and a vulnerability that balances his passion for what he does. This vulnerability was on display mid-show, during the concert’s highlight – a cover of Jeff Buckley’s Lover, You Should Have Come Over. Jamie sat at the piano, drenched in blue light, and simply played. By the third line – ‘Maybe I am too young to keep good love from going wrong’ – we were transfixed. This one song must be his soul’s song. He had us absorbed by his masterful playing and earnest vocal. It was transcendent. He belted out the heart-rending chorus, then brought it back down to a quiet flourish of the keys at the end. And there was silence. We forgot to clap. And Jamie had that magical five seconds that every musician wants to be responsible for: the moment when the audience is so involved that they have forgotten themselves, and so forgotten to applaud. Jamie had that moment. And then we remembered ourselves and thundered applause like never before. The last song before the encore was his Radiohead cover High And Dry. On the album, this song is controversial; live, it excels. In the instrumental, Jamie divided the room in half, teaching one group a set of four notes to sing. To the other, he taught the same set of intervals, only a third higher. We sang, a massive choir in perfect harmony, and Jamie improvised over the top. If magic exists, this was it. Then Jamie returned to the piano, rocking it up again, and lyrically closing the night: ‘It’s the best thing you’ve ever had.’ And it really was. Reluctant to leave immediately after the show, my mum and I waited around for a few minutes as people filed out of the theatre. I overheard one young man comment that he’d been to a Rob Thomas show and that, compared with Jamie Cullum’s performance, it was – ahem – excrement. And my mum’s verdict? She loved it, but thought Jamie was very naughty. http://www.myspace.com/only_music