Live Review

Jessie J – Academy, Manchester

• 6th Apr 2011

From complete obscurity last year, Miss Jessie J has taken the UK Music scene by storm. Jessie has been signed for over 4 years now and in that time has honed her craft, written some major hit songs for other artists (Miley Cyrus ‘Party in the USA’) and now headlines her first national tour. I was quite keen to see her live after I saw her perform on Jools Holland Live in November last year.

A friend of mine performed with her in London a few years back now and he explained to me that her voice was pitch perfect and that she was incredibly talented. Jessie has also been through some really hard times in her life – including an irregular heartbeat and suffering from a stroke when she was just 18. It makes it all the more sweeter now to see her succeeding in such a harsh industry.

Jessie came onto the stage as a silhouette behind a curtain. The mostly teenage girl crowd was going wild and as she blasted out her first track ‘Mama Knows Best’; and blast it out she did. You could also sense Jessie’s excitement and slight nervousness to perform to a large crowd as she completely owned the stage from the beginning of her set. ‘Abracadabra’ saw Jessie completely miss the second verse not that the crowd seemed to mind. As the track finished Jessie explained her mistake and sang the second verse acapella. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at this point. I’ve been to see some of the best singers in the World perform including Mary J Blige and Alicia Keys; I swear in a few years she will rival them in the Diva stakes.

A stripped back version of ‘White Room’ was emotionally charged and seen Jessie perform with an incredible vocal range. My only criticism I have of her is the occasional Mariah Carey warble type stutter effect she makes; not my cup of tea but the crowd lapped it up. Her upbeat tracks ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Who’s Laughing Now’
saw the crowd bumping and grinding and singing ever word alongside her. The venue was on fire and some fans found it a bit too much, fainting and being carted away by security. Jessie stopped the set at this point to check on the health of the audience members which was a nice touch.

‘Do It Like A Dude’ – Jessie’s first hit single, went down a storm and although not my favourite track on the album it was performed with that much enthusiasm and joy by Jessie you couldn’t help but love it. For the encore Jessie closed with her UK No.1 ‘Price Tag’. Although the concert was short in length she finished in style; even rapping parts of B.o.B’s verse. It makes me wonder what it will be like to see her live in 2 years time when she has a larger catalogue of songs. The UK can be happy to see so much talent at the moment and this Essex Diva could even set the USA alight.