- Morrissey - That's How People Grow Up
- British Sea Power - Waving Flags
- Nate James - Back To You
- Joe Brown (Chat with JH and Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On duet)
- Ida Maria - Oh My God
- Morrissey - Something Is Squeezing My Skull
- Joe Brown - I'll See You In My Dreams
- British Sea Power - Canvey Island
- Mayra Andrade - Mana
- British Sea Power (Chat with JH)
- Nate James - Choke
- Joe Brown (and The Brothers) - Long Gone
- Ida Maria - Queen Of The World
- British Sea Power - No Lucifer
- Morrissey - All You Need Is Me
- Morrissey - The Last Of The International Playboys
A show with Morrissey as the star performer, it was varied and interesting, but with fewer songs for the other artists. The exception to this was British Sea Power who ran through the usual three songs, kicking off with a nervous and statesmanlike Waving Flags. The band were supported by the magnificent London Bulgarian woman’s choir. The second, Canvey Island was better, as was No Lucifer which saw Yan and Hamilton swap roles. The performance was complete with a display from Cambrian wrestlers. They even found time to chat (briefly) with JH but unfortunately had to share the privilege with comedian Alan Carr, for some reason.
Morrissey is an icon and like him or loathe him post-Smiths, he performed with professionalism and decorum. His demeanour suggests that he is just doing a job, such is the man’s presence on stage. But after That’s How People Grow Up was out of the way and the world TV exclusive of Something Is Squeezing My Skull, he seemed to loosen up and seem more interested. Maybe he was inspired by Norway’s Ida Maria. With all the bands around him, you can’t help feeling that he would much rather be back in those young vibrant days. Morrissey, like Radiohead before him, opened and closed the show and after All You Need Is Me JH revealed, in an oh so obvious staged but desperately trying to be improvised moment, that there was time for an encore. So he treated us to a much more relaxed rendition of The Last Of The Famous International Playboys. Being a fan of older Morrissey, this was a really great way to end the show.
The supporting act this week was split between London soul singer Nate James and Norwegian indie-rock band Ida Maria. The most interesting was definitely Ida Maria who started with the vibrant shouty and ultimately brilliant Oh My God. The performance began tentatively and ended with Maria throwing herself over the forward amps after throwing her hat across the studio. Second performance The Queen Of The World was equally determined but much more controlled.
It is a shame that the BBC seem to back away from ‘world music’ so much. A special guest this week was Mayra Andrade from Cape Verde who only got one song. It is probably better to get a range of music on Later…than the same styles each week but it feels like a missed opportunity to really showcase an ‘unknown’ artist. It was certainly quality or quantity and a rousing version of Mana, complete with a multi-tasking percussionist and a dexterous guitarist.
A real treat this week was the mighty Joe Brown, a Later… favourite and good friend of JH. A duet of Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Going On finally gave us a bit of boogie-woogie piano from Jules and some great guitar work from Brown. He had two other stage songs: George Formby’s I’ll See You In My Dreams and the Texas swing of Long Gone. JB played violin on the latter and was accompanied by his band. In a great old-time performance they shared a microphone.
Much more music this week which is a good thing but the show still needs a lot more variety. There is still a heavy leaning toward UK rock and pop which reflects the mature mainstream preference but a few more young vibrant bands, more folk and few sub-genres would be great.
Links: Ida Maria, Mayra Andrade
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