Colm Wilkinson Gets His Mojo Workin' at St Davids Hall, Cardiff;Saturday 29th June

Photo courtesy of @angieiswelsh

When a performer announces a solo tour, you never know quite what to expect. Sometimes they just sing songs with little audience interaction but I think most know that in order to really connect it'll take a little more than that.

So, if you're looking for that perfect formula, look no further than Colm Wilkinson... he is the master of the solo gig! No wonder other performers list him as an influence on their careers. Colm's presence on stage is natural and comfortable. He feels at home and clearly revels in sharing his love of the job and music with his audience, constantly involving us. He interacts with the audience in a conversational manner encouraging the audience to talk back and has us singing along at various points through the show. 

The biggest surprise was how funny he is, though. He told some jokes, claiming his wife warned him not to, and it really warmed up the audience. He also got us to turn around and shake the hand of the person behind us as an ice breaker. It's these little touches that make the difference between a sterile album concert and a memorable, fun night out - or to use Ramin's terminology; A Hootenanny.  

Colm performed a range of songs taken from his album as well as songs that he simply enjoys himself. He treated us to a song he wrote years ago called "I cannot stay" about taking for granted that loved ones know they are loved and how we should say it more often. If you haven't heard it, here's a link to a video of it from a concert a few years back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaOkc4_n6ow (not my video).

His passion for rock & roll really came across - he put so much energy into the performance and considering he's 69 that energy could match any of his younger counterparts. He got us signing the phrase "I got my mojo workin" back at him during the song of the same name as well as the chorus of the Dubliners 'Whisky in the Jar" (although, someone please tell me what the lyrics are. Even looking at lyric sites online they are all different - I found 'whack for my daddy-o' 'Wept for my daddy-o' and my sister thought it was 'back for my daddy-o' ... Who knows?). There was also some Johnny Cash thrown in the mix, some Beatles and a few country songs too.

He couldn't do a concert without featuring some of his musical theatre triumphs which we all know and love him for including Music of the Night, This is the Moment, Some Enchanted Evening and a couple from 'Man of La Mancha' amongst others. We wouldn't let him leave, however, without 'Bring Him Home' (or 'Send Them Home' as Colm cheekily called it) which he left for the final encore, going off stage and returning with his Jean Val Jean jacket on. This was met with frantic approval - the screaming of one lady behind me was almost alarming. He told us an amusing story about when he went to see Forbidden Broadway (if you don't know forbidden Broadway, its an off Broadway spoof show featuring lovingly mocking versions of well loved musical theatre songs -check it out on YouTube!) where they were performing their version of Les Mis. They call the song 'Bring It Down' and of this, he sung us the first few lines -   

God it's high

This song's too high

Pity me

Change the key

Bring it down 

Bring it down

He did continue with the more standard version, however, to the delight of everyone there. When we finally let him leave the stage (after all, he reminded us, he is in a union), it was to a well earned, full standing ovation.

I must also mention his fantastic band and his supporting Irish ladies Siobhan Pettit & Aine Whelan who had very different voices which came together in a nice harmony.

This is one album tour you don't want to miss out on - a true, long-standing professional at work. He moves on to Dublin's Bord Gais theatre next (that theatre name still makes me laugh on so many levels) and has some American and Canadian dates booked for the end of the year. For more information, you can visit the website http://www.colmwilkinson.com/ 

Ramin Karimloo’s “Road to Find Out” (St David’s Hall, Cardiff, 26th May)

If there’s one thing you certainly can’t accuse Ramin of it's succumbing to the usual ailments of men and their ‘man flu’. He troupes on through sickness, causing dichotomous feelings for his fans – on the one hand we’re delighted that he’s there, performing for our joy and entertainment and on the other hand we’re concerned that he’s making himself worse by not getting the rest he needs.

However, if you didn’t already know he was sick, there was little to give this away. He made no excuses and just got on with it. There were some tell tale signs, such as the polka dot handkerchief sticking out of his back pocket like Gertrude’s one feathered tail, occasional voice breaks and struggling to hold the note at the end of Music of the Night during the encore. For the most part he performed as perfectly as we’ve come to expect.

Ramin started the show, bouncing out of the side door and, after acknowledging his audience, launched straight into the energetic ‘Show Me Light’. From there we were taken along his “Road to Find Out” – his journey from where he started to where he is now and his influences along the way. As the man himself said ‘it’s all about the journey’.

We were shown his early love of rock music (‘I and Love and You’ by Avett Bros) and he related to us an anecdote about how he used to work as a pot washer in Canada and would listen to Tragically Hip on the radio. I love hearing these little anecdotes as it creates a kind of intimacy between performer and supporter – it allows us an insight outside of his life as a high profile West End performer.

We then travelled through another of his early experiences - going to church - which, he confessed to us, he hated going to, but secretly loved the songs. He then performed one for us with Steve Young and a guest performer (Sean Kingsley – Valjean during Ramin’s time as Enjolras in Les Mis). That song was ‘Closer Walk With Thee’

Photo provided by Sue Cartwright (@stourbridgesue)

We walked down the road sign-posted ‘Musical Theatre’ – an important part of Ramin’s career and an art form that has really raised his profile. Some of the songs included ‘Bring Him Home’ (which I was most relieved was in the line up after missing his Valjean), ‘Oh, What A Beautiful Morning’ and ‘Till I Hear You Sing’ (which he forgot the lyrics to in his trademark way - but all is forgiven when you look upon his perplexed face as he tries to figure out why the next line isn’t quite coming to him). He also tried one from a musical he hasn’t been in, which I think he said was ‘Evita’ (please, correct me if I’m wrong). He had a few false starts with this one, but that’s why we love him – he just has to give a cheeky, humble smile and we all erupt into applause. He has this way of completely putting himself out there  - showing us he’s just like anyone else in his tendency to make mistakes (after all, ‘to err is human’ as another artistic type wrote) and his lack of fear into approaching the unknown by performing a song that he hasn’t finely tuned and rehearsed to death. I don’t think many other performers would be so brave.

Another stop on this journey was his folksy, bluegrass inspired music created for his band “Sheytoons” which he formed with good friend and fellow West End star, Hadley Fraser (who got an appreciative ‘whoop’ from the audience upon mere mention). He performed the song ‘Broken’ and ‘Lonely’ which included beautiful harmonies from Katie Birtell.   

All this topped off with interjections from his most recent self titled album. I was particularly looking forward to hearing him sing ‘Constant Angel’ live as this is my favourite of his own songs. Hearing it live was a moving experience as I find a lot of meaning in this song.

But no journey would be complete without the people who make their imprint on it; Which leads me onto a spotlight on one of his guests:

Photo provided by Sue Cartwright (@stourbridgesue)

The absolutely fabulous Carrie Fletcher. She first sang ‘A Little Fall of Rain’ with Ramin which got a roof lifting applause that lasted a good minute or so. She said on twitter later that she was inundated with people telling her she should play Eponine in Les Mis. So hopefully we'll be seeing more of her in the not too distant future.

You may recognise her as the sister of McFly’s Tom Fletcher, which I only mention as a point of interest. She certainly doesn’t need to use his success as a springboard, she has buckets full of talent all on her own merit. If you’ve yet to hear her sing, please check out the clip below. It’s her cover of Paramore’s ‘The Only Exception’ which is the song she chose to perform at St David’s Hall

There was one other really special guest – Ramin’s son Jaiden Karimloo. He ran down the aisle to join his dad on stage. Ramin played the piano and Jaiden sang the chorus of ‘Hallelujah’. It was such a touching moment and I think even the hardest hearts would melt at the look of pride on Ramin’s face. 

Ramin wrapped things up with ‘Coming Home’ and told people that even though the rule was to not take photo’s he didn’t really mind. This resulted in pretty much everyone getting their phones and cameras out, which Ramin said the following about on twitter:-

BUT we didn’t want him to leave things there. There was a rapturous applause including..... stamping!! I haven’t heard a stamping applause in many, many years. So poor, sick Ramin came back onstage for a few more songs and I’m going to share the vid for the last encore song here, which includes some little unique moments for a Welsh audience. The clip is courtesy of @waggers1245 – follow her on twitter & youtube for lots of West End updates!!

 Just one more thing – I cannot end this post without mentioning the second guitarist (I guess it must be Justin Quinn, looking at the programme). His facial expressions whilst playing were brilliant. I couldn’t stop watching him. He looked so into the music, which is always nice to see. As amusing and hypnotic as this was, it was lovely to see someone with a real passion for what they do.

To wrap up this somewhat lengthy blog post (which I do apologise for, if anyone has managed to make it this far – there’s just so much to say)I’ll leave you with this picture of the back page of the programme. A sentiment we should all take to heart.... and lungs.