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Competition-winners gigs are always a mixed bag. The dynamic can usually be traced back from the barrier, with the hard-core fans at the front, followed by those casual sort who only know the singles. Then the partners and friends who have been dragged along as company and finally, right at the back, leaning against the bar, those who couldn’t give a toss who’s onstage, as long as their glass isn’t empty and the kebab shop’s still open when they leave.
Considering this, tonight’s corporate logo-fest (Carling Academy, Xfm, O2 sessions…PLEASE STOP!) also plays host to a crowd consisting of tight-jeaned indie scenesters, lager-swilling rude boys and gold-chained wannabe gangstas. Not an easy mob to please, surely? And certainly not by this skinny white boy from Wimbledon clutching an acoustic bass guitar? But of course, therein lies the charm of young Jamie Treays. He’s not particularly indie, or folk, or reggae, or hip-hop, and somehow he manages to blend all these styles and more into a single verse better than most artists can manage on an entire album.
Being universally hailed as ‘the next big thing’ must boost the ego, and it is with an extra spring in the step that Jamie launches into his set with album opener ‘Brand New Bass Guitar’. Ably switching between acoustic bass, electric guitar and simply rapping, each tune increases the volume of approval, and in turn the band’s stage presence. Deprived of an instrument, Jamie has developed into quite the showman, stalking the stage like a whippet-thin rap god. He even ventures to touch hands with the front row, like a guttersnipe Bono at his own private Live Aid.
The undeniable and impossible to pigeonhole quality of tunes such as ‘Salvador’, ‘Sheila’ and the excellent ‘Pacemaker’ leave the disciples enraptured. Tellingly, even the drunken philistines have slowly moved forward and are tentatively nodding heads and tapping feet as the set draws to a close. Encoring with Billy Bragg’s ‘A New England’ and a reworked, sped-up ‘Calm Down Dearest’, Mr T has won over a few more stragglers on his quest for greatness and once again proven there is basis behind the hype.
