Jessie J @ Birmingham Academy, 2nd April 2011

There is a good crowd mix, lots of youngsters mingling with a selection of oldies thrown in for good measure at Jessie J’s sell-out Birmingham gig. Showing that the latest singer/songwriting phenomenon J-J-J-J-J Jessie J has taken the country by storm.

What mysteries lie beneath the red curtain? The question on everyone’s lips at the O2 Academy as the crowd wait for the vocal sensation that is Jessie J. Sporadic chants of “Jessie! Jessie!” echo from the waiting gig goers amidst the relative quiet. At last… the lights dim, camera phones raise and the atmosphere rises by like a gazillion per cent in eager anticipation of Miss J’s imminent appearance. This palpable excitement cranks up several more notches as a silhouette of the gyrating Jessie appears behind the curtain. Boom! It drops to reveal the girl of the moment. A huge neon ‘Jessie J’ sign makes for a striking stage backdrop to Miss J dressed in a black asymmetric catsuit, (a stylish one arm, one leg number with gold encrusted bra embellishment) and rocking her now trademark super shiny box bob hairdo.

Not having seen Jessie J previously, two things instantly strike me. The girl has got SWAGGER in abundance and she’s got a simply AMAZING vocal and massive range! From the minute she belts out the first lyrics of ‘Momma Knows Best’ the crowd are whipped into an immediate frenzy — aided and abetted by their on stage conductor in front of them.

The sound quality is remarkably good, and she wastes no time ploughing through soon to be hits from her superb debut album ‘Who You Are’ (her album has just gone platinum you know!), culminating with an early version of ‘Do it like a Dude’. The place erupts to the obvious delight of the songstress, as she vignettes from acoustic gem to raucous romp!

Jessie wittily banters away between songs. Much like fellow artist Adele, she has an animated chirpy chatty spoken voice in contrast to the powerhouse singing voice. She’s articulate, really likeable and flits effortless from gargantuan power vocals, through to ballad like high notes at the blink of an eye.

A really nice trait that the Jessie has, is whilst being confident, she also comes across as being extremely humble. Midway through the set she asks for the house lights to come on, so that she can see the audience. She then thanks the crowd for making her first tour a sell out and gives ‘nuff respect’ to her every growing army of fans A.K.A the Heartbeats for sticking by her when others didn’t believe, she continued her thanks by dedicating the next song ‘L.O.V.E’ to the Heartbeats in the house tonight. Trust the Gig Junkies Jessie…these guys definitely believe in you.

Because of technical issues Jessie restarts ‘Who You Are’ 3 times as she can’t hear the band. Many a singer would simply have given up but not Jessie. Instead, she encourages the audience (who can hear the band) to sing along as she takes her key from them. Evidently this a special song to her, that she sang with huge amounts of passion, made all the more special by the audience participation. At the end of a perfect 3rd attempt she wipes away tears, you can see the real genuine emotion.

If you’ve not seen Jessie J, then treat yourself and catch her at one of her upcoming gigs or festivals. You won’t be disappointed. Oh and did I mention she has a magnificent singing voice?… 😉

Set list:
1. Momma Knows Best
2. Abracadabra
3. Stand Up
4. Do It Like A Dude
5. L.O.V.E
6. Big White Room
7. Who’s Laughing Now
8. Rainbow
9. Nobody’s Perfect
Encore:
10. Who You Are
11. Price Tag

Review – Zak Edwards
Photos – Katja Ogrin

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