Lucie Silvas LIVE

Ok, prior to going to this concert I had neither heard a single Lucie Silvas song all the way through, nor had the inclination to particularly do so. To be honest I thought she was a bit crap. Not that there was anything really wrong with her (teasely young piano playing singer that she is) but there was nothing to me that stood her out from the chasing pack.

Obviously 350,000 people who bought her album disagree with me, and so if I wasn't exactly open to a Damascian-style conversion to the Silvas army, neither was I so closed minded that I wouldn't give her a chance.

And I was pleasantly surprised. Sure there were a few too many "Mariah Carey" moments of over-wrought warbling...sure some of her lyrics are treading the fine line that seperates the meaningful from the trite...but there is no denying the power of her voice nor the fact that when it matters the tunes are good enough to speak for themselves.

I certainly recognised the singles, and some of the other songs sounded familar too (although whether that is a good thing, or a signs of a somewhat limited range is a question I won't answer just yet) and it surprised me to see her belt out some rather rocky numbers as well, which certainly shook me out of any tiredness.

The cover of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" was a clever trick (yes, I know it was on the album, but still, it is a clever trick although I'm sure the fact that it is a Metallica song is lost on most of the people who would buy a Lucie Silvas record); the Coldplay cover was less so. But all in all this was a pleasent evening, with much to reccommend. Although the fact remains that there are better singer-songwriters plying their trade who have to get by without so much of the record-company hype that propelled Silvas to the big time. Still, one shouldn't begrudge anybody that little helping hand, and this show proved that Silvas is certainly talented enough to move onwards and upwards.

Lucie Silvas....Better than Natasha Bedingfield.