Reviews
Justin Nozuka/Ian Perry
 justin nozaku 03 May 2007 I decided to venture along to Porter to see Justin Nozuka out of curiosity. This was triggered firstly by the fact that they were charging on the door and a lot of tickets had been bought. Ticket sales usually mean an artist worth seeing. Secondly I heard that Justin has had a lot of label interest.
The winner of Porters Battle Of The Musos and bluesman Ian Perry opened up the evening. It went from blues to soul as Justin kicked off his set backed by his band. He is from Toronto and I believe only eighteen years old. He is an extremely talented vocalist with a highly soulful voice that sounds much older than his years. He was waering a black cut-off top and had that same youthful free beauty that the late Jeff Buckley posessed. In fact that was the person I thought of first. Not so much for the tone of vocal but for the high and lingering falsetto and octave climbing that Justin is also capable of. Laying very much in the 'soul' genre there was of course an element of Justin Timberlake etc in there. This works to Justins advantage however. The subject matter in his songs ranges from abusive relationships to being stuck down a well. He paints an interesting and heartfelt picture in the listeners mind. By no means your typical 'my baby has left me and I'm sad' boy band ma! terial. With Justins good looks and impressive voice one can imagine him being the sweetheart of college girls everywhere. He already sounds like a signed artist and posesses a voice that should be on the airwaves. He played a selection of songs by himself mid-set and had the five or six tables of young ladies and the rest of the bar in complete silence throughout. Despite not being my bag musically I enjoyed listening to Justin. There is no denying the guy has a great voice and rightly deserves the multitute of compliments that are being thrown his way! Ed Cesar |