17 January 2007 (gig)
24 January 2007
XFM specials are normally just that and tonight at the great Islington Academy that was what I expected. Jamie T (real name Jamie Treays) is a thin 20 year-old South Wimbledon lad whose brand of skanky acoustic hip-hop is creating ripples on the airwaves. With an acoustic bass strapped to his back he took to the stage with four other musicians (bass, guitar, drums and keyboards). There is a mish-mash of influences when Jamie T and friends kick into the first track, rap and rockabilly colliding with pleasing results. The sound then calms down but becomes slightly repetitive indie-electro and you see that Jamie T has a very Streets style vocal delivery. 'Back In The Game’ sees Jamie T play solo acoustic bass and rhyming couplets in possibly a contender for the best song of the night award, which to be honest didn’t seem to have too much competition so far. Many tracks are ramshackle affairs with seemingly no solid foundation. Previous singles 'Sheila’ and 'If You Got The Money’ help lift the musical tone but somehow there seems to be an ingredient missing and the gig never quite takes off. Final track 'Salvador’ was the most enjoyable not least for watching a teenage fan Jamie asked the bouncers to get up on stage. His expression and frantic efforts to get his mate up raised a few smiles as did his dancing, which is almost but not quite as diabolically bad as my own. A distinctly average performance from a guy with seemingly so much more to offer.
