Amy Winehouse

We went off to see Amy Winehouse sing last night.
Both of her albums have been loud, jazzy torch-music lite. She's doing well in the charts at the moment, with her single "Rehab".

Last night, the last night of her tour, she was poor. Some of that was due to Amy's choice of dress for the evening. She wore a very short, low-cut dress that kept riding up her thighs. It looked good but obviously made her uncomfortable as she kept pulling the hem down, distracting from her singing. Her tits almost popped out of her cleavage, so she had to pull the bustier of the dress up over her nipples - and again, this interfered with her singing. For a place with good acoustics, her voice was muddied, and her rapport with the audience was mixed: it started poorly, but improved towards the end.

The backing band was superb. There were two black guys in white tailsuits, dancing & doo-wopping in time, and a baritone saxophonist producing deep rhythmic sounds that just can't be heard from a home hi-fi.

For a skinny tiny waif of a twenty-year old, she wasn't bad. I'd love to see her in fifteen years' time, when her voice has mellowed and gained depth. And preferably in a small club, rather than a large heaving venue like the Academy last night.

On the whole, I preferred the classical choral music of Beethoven & Haydn which I listened to last week. Tomorrow, with luck, I'll go to listed to my mates' band, Santa Dog.