in the ad. However it was not just her lyrics that made the song appeal to me, but her soothing sexy voice, combined with sounds from blues and jazz. I liked it so much, that I googled the lyrics from the ad and brought the song on iTunes. Over the summer, the single has been played repeatedly, and I became a bit fed up with it. I hadn’t heard anything else from Gabrielle Cilmi, so I was very excited to see what else she could offer, whilst playing live.I arrived at the academy at 7pm, sorted out a photopass, got into place, and waited over an hour! for the first warm up to appear. It was a local guy doing an acoustic set with his guitar. It was nice, but nothing special, and definitely something the audience could have done without. After his 30minute set the second support came on. This was also an acoustic set with one guy and his guitar. He was called Liam Bailey, and although he was far more interesting than the first support, h
e still lacked originality. He was like Ben Harper meets Jason Mraz with a Jimmy Hendrix look. He was good, however he definitely did not want to be background music, and got more and more frustrated that the crowd were talking whilst he was playing, causing him to finish very abruptly, and almost arrogantly storming of stage, after his 45minute support set.At 9:30, two and half hours after the show was supposed to start, Gabriella Cilmi and her band finally appeared on stage. It was clear from the moment she stepped out that she was a “rock chic”, with her black lace up boots, “bed hair look”, and diamond-studded microphone, although there was still definitely something sweet about her. After the first track she addressed the crowd, in her sexy Aussie accent and girlie giggle. They played a total of 13songs, including a beautiful heartfelt song about being homesick, and a groovy cover of Cry me a River.
The track that everybody had been waiting for, Sweet About Me, came after the 7th track, and was introduced by Gabriella encouraging everybody to get their phones and cameras out, ready to add to the thousands of other bootleg recordings of the track on YouTube. It was quite different from the rest of the more rock based set list, though perhaps the only one capable of being of a successful single. Gabriella and the band were playing it almost mockingly rocking from side to side, and allowing the audience to do most of the singing, which they gladly did. The set ended with Led Zeppelin’s A Whole Lotta Love, making clear where Gabriella’s true musical passions lie.
I was very impressed by her stage presence, incredible voice, sassiness and maturity far beyond a girl who had only just turned 17, four days earlier. The chemistry in the band seemed really good, especially between Gabriella and the bass player Kali De Vaux, who slightly resembled Side Show Bob, with his big ginger dreads.
There is no doubt that she is a talented young musician, and gives a good show, however she needs to develop her own sound more. Sweet About Me is a great track, but combined with covers from artists such as Justin Timberlake and Led Zeppelin, it’s hard to define who Gabriella Cilmi is at the moment, other than a young girl with a passion for a wide variety of music.
Set list:
1) Sanctuary
2) Cigs & Lies
3) Awkward
4) Einstein5) Safer
6) Cry Me a River
7) Got No Place To Go
The track that everybody had been waiting for, Sweet About Me, came after the 7th track, and was introduced by Gabriella encouraging everybody to get their phones and cameras out, ready to add to the thousands of other bootleg recordings of the track on YouTube. It was quite different from the rest of the more rock based set list, though perhaps the only one capable of being of a successful single. Gabriella and the band were playing it almost mockingly rocking from side to side, and allowing the audience to do most of the singing, which they gladly did. The set ended with Led Zeppelin’s A Whole Lotta Love, making clear where Gabriella’s true musical passions lie.
I was very impressed by her stage presence, incredible voice, sassiness and maturity far beyond a girl who had only just turned 17, four days earlier. The chemistry in the band seemed really good, especially between Gabriella and the bass player Kali De Vaux, who slightly resembled Side Show Bob, with his big ginger dreads.There is no doubt that she is a talented young musician, and gives a good show, however she needs to develop her own sound more. Sweet About Me is a great track, but combined with covers from artists such as Justin Timberlake and Led Zeppelin, it’s hard to define who Gabriella Cilmi is at the moment, other than a young girl with a passion for a wide variety of music.
Set list:
1) Sanctuary
2) Cigs & Lies
3) Awkward
4) Einstein5) Safer
6) Cry Me a River
7) Got No Place To Go
8) Sweet About Me
9) Echo Beach
10) Terrifying
11) Don’t Wanna Go To Bed
12) Save The Lies
Extra) Whole Lotta Love
For more information visit:
http://www.myspace.com/gabriellacilmi
http://www.myspace.com/kalidevaux
http://www.myspace.com/liambaileyuk
Words and photos by Emilia Flockhart
9) Echo Beach
10) Terrifying
11) Don’t Wanna Go To Bed
12) Save The Lies
Extra) Whole Lotta Love
For more information visit:
http://www.myspace.com/gabriellacilmi
http://www.myspace.com/kalidevaux
http://www.myspace.com/liambaileyuk
Words and photos by Emilia Flockhart
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