Paolo Nutini // 02.06.2014 // UEA
Nuitini shares his pencil full of lead with Norwich fans
Walking into the LCR, it was one of those gigs where you could tell how much the tickets were (the higher end of Norwich gig prices at £29.50), partially due to the disproportionally low number of young people, the complete and utter lack of movement, and the fact at least four women had consciously decided to bring fans... right. So it was a bit of a different atmosphere, but the support form Haight Ashbury was enough to keep people amused. After some careful manoeuvring around some tutting, fan-bearing gig-goers, we were just about able to see the top quarter of Paolo’s head.
It has to be said, and I’m sure this is no surprise, that as lovely as “Caustic Love” is, it was always going to be his most popular songs that created the best atmosphere, probably due to how long Paolo’s been around (he’s been selling out since 2006) and how vast his appeal is (I bring your attention back to the fan-women). He played the big tracks off the new album, opening with “Scream”, and making an overall progression backwards through time to end with “Last Request” which warranted THE BEST crowd-singing I have ever heard, I kid you not.
Despite my original doubts about the atmosphere, the gig as a whole was truly fantastic and surpassed expectations; ok, maybe some of the new material sounded a bit similar... but mixed in with the first and second album, the show in itself was varied enough, especially due to re-vamped versions of “Candy” and “Pencil Full of Lead” which led to a LOT of people singing the wrong words... but also felt like a new take on a classic, if you can call 2009 classic.
