Please log in or sign up to leave a comment.

1. Gumgum2804 (about 1 month ago)

   I’ve been a fan of Mark Ronson’s production work since he emerged with his debut album ‘Here Comes The Fuzz’ in 2003. With the US urban scene at that time becoming more and more generic and bland he was a breath of fresh air, delving into every musical genre from indie to funk to breaks to dancehall to create an album of show stopping hip-hop cuts that certainly raised a few eyebrows.

   The last 2 years have seen Ronson dipping into the world of pop producing work for the likes of Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams and Christina Aguilara, before starting work on his own 2nd album, this years ‘Version’ a collection of cover versions of mainly indie tracks that Ronson grabbed by the scruff of the neck, took out for night on the town and introduced to the world of Motown and Hip Hop. On paper so many things could have gone wrong with these covers and collaborations but the album turned out to be a work of genius, this time giving the stale world of pop the kick up the arse that it so richly deserves.

   So, knowing that the man is a production and Djing genius I couldn’t wait to see what he would offer us as a live act and for that matter exactly how ‘live’ it would actually be. My main interest was actually how involved he would be and it was a great surprise to see that he was the hub of the whole performance. Whilst he’s surrounded him with some serious talent, Stuart Zender (ex-Jamiroquai) on bass, a brass section made up of Scotland’s awesome Haggis Horns, the legend that is Sean Lennon and the great up and coming talent of vocalists Daniel Merriweather and Tawiah it was obvious from the start that Ronson was the heart of the band with every other member feeding off of him, watching his every move and prompt as he flitted between guitar and keyboards.

   Starting off with the incidental ‘Inversion’ before launching into an awesome instrumental take on Maximo Park’s ‘Apply Some Pressure’, the crowd and the band having just as much fun as each other. Ronson wasted no time in introducing Daniel Merriweather to the stage where he launched into ‘Toxic’ (ahh, poor Britney, how times change) the set charged along, taking in the best version of ‘Apache’ I’ve ever experienced. Female vocalist Tawiah showed Lilly Allen how it’s done on the vocals of ‘Oh My God’ giving the song a soulful edge that Allen never quite managed to pull off.

   And then it was time for a little bit of pop royalty with the emergence of Sean Lennon onto the stage to perform an perfectly beautiful rendition of the Beach Boys ‘Sail on Sailor’ before adding his soulful vocals to the bands cover of Radiohead’s ‘Just’. Returning to the stage Daniel Merriweather performed a track from his forthcoming (Ronson Produced) debut, which pointed at great things for him in the future before the band finished their set with chart topping Zuton’s cover ‘Valerie’.

   Everyone returned for a brief 2 track encore but what a pair of songs, firstly an awe inspiring version of ‘We Can Work It Out’ with Sean Lennon, Daniel Merriweather and Tawiah all taking turns on vocals and managing to do justice to both the Beatles and Stevie Wonder all at the same time, before the night ended the only way it could with Ronson performing his biggest hit to date ‘Stop Me’.

   Mark Ronson, Producer, DJ and now Live Performing genius, without a doubt.

   Reply