Norah Jones supported by The Candles

6th July 2017, Somerset House, London, UK

Kicking off the 2017 Summer Series Gigs at Somerset House sponsored by American Express was Norah Jones supported by The Candles. Norah is one of the more established, and familiar names, performing this year during the 11 nights of the series of outdoor music events in the splendour of the open courtyard at Somerset House.

Opening for Norah were The Candles – the band appeared to grow with each of the early songs in their set. First a soloist, then a trio, then they where joined by a drummer and pianist, and finally by a bassist. It became apparent later – that most of the members of The Candles where members of Norah’s band. While I understand that having your backing band open for you, under another name, does keep the costs down and keep things simple while touring – but it really is a shame the opportunity wasn’t take for an up and coming London band to be given the opportunity to win more fans from amongst Norah’s adoring fans.

Beginning her European tour at Somerset House, the set began in a jazz mood, which would have graced Ronnie Scott’s, if you could take the roof off that venue.

A subtle touch on the ivories of the grand piano, which dominated the stage, during instrumental interludes in “I’ve got to see you again” proved Norah is more than just a great vocalist.

As the set progress the jazz mood was replace by a more electric sound – with the pedal steel contributing much to that.

Norah herself commented that she’d not been expecting hot and humid weather, which she likened to that in Texas where she’d grown up. Then she noted that having played at a number of outside venues recently – she always seam time one song on in the set to match the sunset – that being “Sunrise”.

After the gentle breeze, keeping the audience from over heating, caused the smells from the food stands to drift on to the stage Norah was prompted to comment “I smell sausages”, and then realise – “that will be the quote of the night”, the set the took a more melancholy turn with song like “She’s 22”.

“Night and day” moved the set back to a warmer sound and feeling, returning to the grand piano and the jazz vibe returns. The “Peace” brings the set to a crescendo, and then “The Long Day is Over”  was a very appropriate way to approach the pre-encore pause.

The real end of the set was “Come away with me” – she couldn’t have left here fans without that hit.

The whole evening illustrates that a carefully constructed set list or album is why listening to music via a streaming service in a random order which hasn’t been curated in anyway, just isn’t the same as experiencing the music in the order the artist behind it intended . A live performance allows the artist to add careful transitions in mood, taking the listener on a musical journey.  The other artists performing this year have a lot to follow to keep the standard up.

Sunday mini festival at Somerset House

8th July – Somerset House Summer Series presented by American Express with What Next Live: Katy B supported by Devlin, Ms Dynamite and P Money and What Next Live – including Kimmy Reader, Rhea Dean and Tom Prior

Regularly giving an opportunity on one of the Sunday’s of the series for up and coming acts to take to the stage is a great innovation that Somerset House continues to provide – this year three of the act from What Next Live shone out – Kimmy Reader, Rhea Dean or Tom Prior could easily have been “headline support acts” – maybe it is time for a slight change to the presentation of these acts and simply put them on as support acts for some of the nights of the series. I’ll be looking out for and looking forward to when these acts perform again.

Katy B brought the acts from her 2011 headline tour with her to Somerset House for her only headline show of the year. I’ve never been sure if a DJ based set works in the classical surroundings of Somerset House – and P Money definitely struggled to keep up the atmosphere that the What Next acts had built up – his act had worked in an enclosed space – but in the daylight, in an open space it seamed not to fill the space sufficiently.

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

When Ms Dynamite took to the stage the energy levels lifted – it was still rather strange to be experiencing this in the open air before the dark had fallen. The large separation between the audience and the stage also wasn’t helping

Devlin's addition of instruments in the form of a full band to the stage took the show up a further level.

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

From Katy B 2012 (Somerset House)

The sun had set by the time Katy B took to the stage, that allowed the light show on the stage to have a bigger impact, and with the venue now full the atmosphere was approaching a club – or as close as you can get surrounded by the 18th century architecture of Somerset House. A cover of the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams stood out in a set that ranged from Katy’s better known dance tracks to slower ballads showing there is more to her than just dubstep. The 11pm curfew came far too early – and closing with Lights On seamed very appropriate as the house lights shortly followed, but the audience didn’t want to leave.