Reviews

nicole mcintyre

Most of the students have now departed and Porter is very quiet but that dosn't stop Nicole putting on another great performance. This is the third review I've written about this talented Australian singer/songwriter and its always a pleasure to see her live. She began this evening with a couple of covers by some of her favourite artists including a Joan Armatrading song. She then went into the first of her own songs and sang "If I showed you whats in my heart would you freak out? If I let you in would you promise not to let me down?" in a powerful and very soulful voice. I especially liked the words "If your feeling low just let my music soothe". An Ani Defranco song played with loads of attitude was fourth. Nicole began the song by saying "some people think Ani Defranco is a lesbian but I don't think so. Who cares anyway?!" Exactly! A new song called "Goodbye" was then played which had a very catchy chord progression and a somewhat soothing vocal perfromance. A classic cov! er followed that song..."dream a little dream for me!". Always a winner. She then played an original that I'm really fond of. A song called 'Not Your Clothes' which is basically about all the bullshit surrounding fashion mags and humankinds desire to look more beautiful than the next person. This song had some great lyrics such as "I'm so much more than my mobile phone" and "I don't wanna talk to your clothes, I wanna talk to you and I don't care what your paycheck shows" Her vocal performance on this song reminded me a lot of Tracey Chapman and really highlighted her own influences. This was followed by a protest song called 'Big Business' and then a really impressive blues number that she sang amazingly. A song about heartache called 'Silent Scream' came next before Nicole finished the first set with a song performed a capella. This is a tradition of hers and is a great way to end a set.

A song by The Cranberries began the second set followed by an original about being stuck under an English cloud for 9 months with the words "I need the sunshine, I need the ocean and I need to sing. Thats all I need" I know exactly what she means. A Bob Dylan cover was next which Nicole was worried about screwing up because theres so many words to remember but she did it justice! I didn't catch the name of the new song that followed this but again it had that strong soulful female songwriter feel to it and sounded completely like a classic from 1969! If your reading this Nicole the fourth song of the second set is single material! 'Wasted' was fifth, "Here I go dreaming about tomorrow again and wasting today. So much time wasted waiting for the big one". Nicole has a knack for writing lyrics that everyone can relate to strongly at some point or another. The song 'Sorry' was next which I remembered from her last two performances. It deals with the subject of the aborigines an! d the crap deal they've been given in their own country. This is a subject that Nicole understandably feels really strongly about. This lead into another 'classic' sounding song with a picked intro and memorable chorus of "Sometimes you make me feel that I could possibly be beautiful". "I have been your inflight entertainment for this evening" Nicole joked at the end of her set before playing 'a jazz standard for the lovers' and ending again with a beautiful a capella version of another beautiful song..."please save your love for me". We will my dear and see you next time!

Ed Hutchinson