Amy Macdonald
- Bands: Amy Macdonald
- Venue: ICA
- Gig: Amy Macdonald
- Gig date: 2nd February 2010
- Posted on 10th March 2010 by T-dubs
What makes you different from anyone in here? What makes you stand out from the crowd?" The questions posed by tonight's opening song, An Ordinary Life, are pertinent: how did this agreeable but unextraordinary Glasgow songwriter manage to carve out a career in which her achievements include elbowing Radiohead off the top of the album chart with her first release? The definitive answer didn't present itself at this low-key gig, designed to ease Macdonald back on to the live circuit after a year spent writing the follow-up to her 2007 debut, which sold 3m copies worldwide. She was charming and capable, and she had glammed up in black sequins, but there was still little to distinguish her from legions of equally able but less successful singers.
Her entrance was announced with a splat of synthesised bagpipes – cute touch – and then it was down to business. Macdonald's gusty tone and timbre put her somewhere between KT Tunstall and Kirsty MacColl, predisposing her to belt out vigorous, straightforward pop-rock. Fans of her debut, This Is the Life, will find the new album, A Curious Thing, to their liking – tracks previewed tonight, such as This Pretty Face and Spark, stick to the same forthright template. This Pretty face adds a folky Scottish twang to the mix, while the acoustic intro to No Roots gives Macdonald's clear voice room to breathe. It was an older song that was most vivid, though: Let's Start a Band, which exhorts someone to "put a ribbon round my neck and call me a libertine", was a stomping hoedown tarted up with wah-wah guitar.
What lingers is her spirit and determination, which may be qualities more associated with a Girl Guide than a pop star, but clearly do the job for Macdonald and three million fans.
Caroline Sullivan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/05/amy-macdonald-review
