Paolo Nutini

Ahhh, Paolo. Those of you who have been keeping track of what I’ve been up to over here will perhaps recall a certain day back in June when Ange, Gabriela and I went to the O2 festival in Hyde Park and saw Paolo Nutini perform for the first time. We´d been introduced to him by my Scottish mate Emma, who´s been to all his gigs and knows all the stories about him. To say we were blown away by his performance that day is a bit of an understatement! Not since the hazy Uni days of Reckoning have I gotten such a buzz out of a performance nor become such a massive fan. And from that day on we have pretty much followed Paolo’s journey from his home town of Paisley (near Glasgow) to hitting it big time in the UK music charts. It’s not just his incredible voice that has captured us, but his vivid story telling lyrics, his presence on stage, the energy and passion he puts into his music…and of course his brooding good looks might have a little to do with it! Ha ha. It’s all a definite WOW… and he’s only 19.

So we joined his mailing list and found out that he would be playing a gig in Glasgow. So off we went and booked our flights and concert tickets! We were very excited and eagerly awaited September 28th (even though we were still in June!)

Then Gabby and I were checking out his website the other day, and saw that Paolo was going to be in London on Tuesday 26th for an instore performance and signing to promote his new single 'Jenny don’t be Hasty'. Fantastic! I’d been to a previous signing in July, for his album launch, but after listening virtually non stop to his album over the last couple of months we were definately keen to see him live, so the three of us headed in for the 6pm kick off at Oxford Street´s HMV.

Apart from being surrounded by masses of pimply 14 year old girls who kept on screaming, the gig was phenomenal. Paolo played 6 songs and seemed alot more confident in his singing and stage performance than last time I saw him; he had the place rocking! We lined up for ages afterwards to get the singles signed, and when it was our turn, I told him that Gabby and I were travelling 8 hours on the overnight bus to see him perform in Glasgow on Thursday! And he was so pleased and surprised he extended his arm and shook our hands! Ha ha, awesome. Cool guy.
Paolo signing guitar @ HMV
So then Thursday came. We'd decided to abandon our flights, as the transport to and from the airport actually worked out more than the cost of a return bus trip! So we booked a cheap 8 hour bus ride from London to Glasgow, and even though we got pretty much no sleep it was worth it for the night ahead at the ABC.

Gabriela and I before the concert started

We were there with Emma, and her mates Claire, Laura and Tony. The show was sold out – had been for weeks – and the Glasgow crowd were pretty excited to see their home town boy. And the whole night was AMAZING!!! First up were Sheffield’s The Tiny Dancers in support. I saw them play at Belladrum, and they were great. This time too. But everyone was pretty much there for Paolo, and, with his biggest crowd ever, and the whole show being webcast live, did he put on a show for us or what! It was just brilliant!! He played virtually all of his songs, and during some the crowd were singing so loudly they almost drowned him out! It was just amazing. I think it was so special as well cause Gabs and I have just sharing so much Paolo together; going running to him, dancing round the kitchen to him, he even featured in a verse of the poem I wrote for Gabby’s 20th birthday last month! So to be there watching him live was just great. But part of me was really sad, just realizing that this was the last time I was going to see him for ages and ages. After following him so closely since June, suddenly I wouldn’t be able to go to his gigs, or do crazy Paolo dances. The whole thing, like my time here in London, was coming to an end. So I just soaked it up as best I could. After finishing with a truly rocking ‘Jenny don’t be Hasty’ he came back on for 3 songs in an encore, and then left. But then, just as the crowd was dispersing, he poked his head back round the stage and came back again, and said “you know we’ve not really got anything else planned, but we wanted to come back out cause we’re just having so much fun!” And the crowd loved it, especially when he played a cover of Gnarles (sp?) Barkley’s song ‘Crazy’. Wow!!! Loads better than the original. Phew!!!
Paolo doing what he does best
But then it was over (or so we thought...). Emma, Claire, Gabby and I headed to the merchandise stand, and Gabs and I bought a poster. Most of the crowd had disappeared by this stage, but we decided to stick around to see what was happening. Because just above the merchandise stand was a spiral staircase leading to the big after party! Paolo’s band members then came out from backstage, and we chatted to them for a while and got them to sign our poster. That was cool. The Tiny Dancers were also hanging around near us, so we started chatting to them, and Claire asked if they had any spare tics to the after party! Tiny Dez said “Well actually, I do have 2…but that’s no good, cause there are 4 of you” Not to worry, 2 passes is better than none! And he gave them to us. Cool! So Emma and Claire headed up to check it out, while Gabby and I stayed below and chatted to the drummer and guitarist from Paolo’s band. But then the big security dudes came over and told us that if we didn’t have tickets to the after party, we had to leave. We protested that we were just waiting for Paolo to come out and sign our posters, and that Emma and Claire were upstairs anyway…so that bought us a little more time. But not much – they got pretty serious then and said we had to leave. So one of them escorted me up to the after show so I could get Emma, then they hearded us out towards the exit. We kept trying to sweet talk him into letting us stay, but he wasn’t having any of it.

But then – I spotted Paolo across the floor, and Emma was like “wait one moment!” to the security guard!! And she sprinted over to him and said “Paolo. Remember those 2 girls who were going to catch the overnight bus up from London just to see you?” and he replied “uh, yeah” and she continued “well, they are here, and it would really make their day if you could give us 2 of these after show passes!” And he looked at his PR lady and said “can I do that?” she said yep no worries, and so there you have it!! 4 Golden Tickets to the Paolo after party!

Very exciting. My first after show party!! Mixing it with Paolo and his band, The Tiny Dancers, quite a few TV celebrities, Atlantic Record reps, and all the families and friends. And it was an open bar, too! We had a great time, especially when we met Tiny Dancer Ev. He was a lovely, down to earth guy despite his band recently fighting off offers from 14 different record companies wanting to sign them. He told us all about life on the road, how the band formed, what they hope to achieve etc. Great to get such a personal insight. We told him how we loved their music, but that when we went to buy the single after the gig they’d all been packed away. He simply told us to send him an email and he’d post us a signed copy!!! How cool is that! He then asked us if we´d be at the sold out London gig on the 12th, but alas, we didn´t have tickets. And Ev said to us “Well if you like I can put you on the guest list!!” OH MY GOODNESS!! We were speechless. Fantastic. So we exchanged mobile numbers and hopefully in a couple of weeks we´ll be rocking again to Paolo and the Tiny Dancers in London!

Gabriela and I with Tiny Dancer Ev at the after party

I probably sound like an obsessed teenage band freak when you read this. But I dunno, Paolo really is an amazing singer – there’s no doubt he’s gonna make it big time. And also, it’s something that has really symbolized my time here in London – having just the best fun, with Gabs, getting into this amazing music all from a young guy who’s telling his story. Love it.

If anyone feels inspired to check out his music, visit www.myspace.com/paolonutini