Jesse Malin & Headway @
Fibbers, York
11th May 2007
Review & Photo's By:
Mark T. Loraine
There can surely only be
one thing that can
rescue a wet May night
in York (and boy was it
P*****g down) and that
is a damn good Rock ‘n’
Roll show ! Ironically
this was going to be the
night the man from New
York City gave the City
of Old York a wake up
call that I bet will not
be easily forgotten by
all that had the good
fortune to be there.
I had briefly heard
Jesse Malin on a Bruce
Springsteen Tribute
Album (Light of Day)
where he did a stunning
version of Hungry Heart
and so turned up at
Fibbers expecting a
singer songwriter in the
mode perhaps of an
acoustic Dylan, or the
Boss himself in an
introspective moment,
but how wrong can you be
!
As
support act Headway
proved early on, this
was never going to be a
sedate affair and as
they hammered through a
number of superb tracks,
it set the scene for
what was about to become
one helluva, dare I say,
“Kickass” show. I am, of
course, old enough to
know better than use
these words but hey what
the hell!. The five lads
from that midlands mecca
of rock that is
Nottingham – it’s the
truth, The Hybirds
anyone ?, really did the
UK scene proud and
although putting out a
short-ish set they
really proved their
worth. Watch out for
them because in my
reckoning big things are
coming their way.
So
on to Mr Malin…
As
mentioned previously
Jesse Malin has the
American troubadour air
of Springsteen about him
but he is, and lets give
huge thanks for this, as
diverse in his writing
and performance as the
Boss himself. As he also
counts among his
influences such varied
ne’r do wells as Neil
Young, The Ramones and
Lemmy you are guaranteed
a performance that will
as a minimum make you
sit up and take notice
and at best blow you
away. I have to say that
I now find myself sat
firmly in the latter
camp.
From the moment he
walked on stage with his
full touring band of
frankly the most serious
looking rock ‘n’ roll
types since, well I
don’t know when, you
just knew that this was
going to be great.
Kicking out tracks like
the beautiful Brooklyn
and nearly the full
complement of his new
album “Glitter in the
Gutter”, he held the
crowd literally in the
palm of his hand. From
some seriously funny
anecdotes about touring
with The Ramones to a
great rapport with the
serious Malin fans at
the front left of the
stage it wasn’t until he
calmed it all down a
little by striding into
the crowd and getting
all in the room to sit
down on the floor did
anyone seem to draw a
real breath. If this
hiatus brought a few
moments of calm, the
rest of the set that
followed really brought
it back to boiling point
again – and this kept up
right until the last bit
of sustain bit the dust.
Out of all of this the
highlight for me was, I
have to say, the
magnificent new single
“Broken Radio”, which on
the version on the album
features both Bruce
Springsteen and Ryan
Adams and live it truly
misses neither of them.
In the week that it had
been made Radio 2’s
record of the week,
Jesse Malin seemed
genuinely proud. And
proud he should be, not
just of this track but
of the whole damn album,
an album which sounds as
tight and mesmerizing
live as it does banging
out of your car stereo.
Make no mistake, if
tonight’s performance is
anything to go by, the
next time you get chance
to see Jesse Malin will
not be in Fibbers in
York (mores the pity),
but in a much, much
larger venue.
Mark T. Loraine
www.jessemalin.com
www.myspace.com/jessemalin
www.myspace.com/headwayband
http://www.suretone.com
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