SGN Page 26

Friday
October 27, 2006
SGN.org

Volume 34
Issue 43

search only SGN online

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008

SGN ADVERTISING INFORMATION

site map

Cullum brings tour full circle Seattle

Cullum brings tour full circle Seattle
by Lorelei Quenzer - SGN A&E Writer Jamie Cullum October 20 at the Paramount Theatre It was nearly full circle for British jazz sensation Jamie Cullum, who began his tour in Seattle back in March of this year. That show, at the Moore, was sold out; this show, at a bigger venue (the Paramount) was nearly at capacity as well, and Cullum was duly impressed. His only request: after such a long time on the road, he asked that the crowd throw men's underwear to the stage instead of women's. I'm sure there were a number of guys in the crowd only too happy to help out, Jamie! The audience roared with appreciation after the first few notes of Cullum's set opener, recognizing the Cole Porter tune "I Get A Kick Out of You." Jamie amped it up with his signature piano stomp after the word "kick." The giant video screen behind the band jumped to life with Cullum's second song, the hip-hop influenced "Get Your Way," and continued with another original, the charming "Photograph." While the video was a little distracting, it's nice to hear Cullum playing mostly original songs on tour, considering that his first albums were chock full of jazz standards. He still plays a few of those on tour: in addition to the Porter classic " which he's made his own, stomping all over the chorus " there was a nice medley of "How Deep Is the Ocean" and "What A Difference A Day Makes." Cullum also covered Radiohead's "High and Dry" (which " I think, but I may be wrong " he intro'd with a sample of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart"? Wow, Jamie!) and picked up the guitar to play James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," claiming it was the first song he learned, purely to impress a girl. But other than a handful of tunes, the rest of the night was all Cullum. Crowd favorites included the infomercial-inspired "7 Days to Change Your Life"; "London Skies," which Jamie slyly changed to "Seattle Skies" midway through; and his 2003 hit, "All At Sea." Cullum all but stopped the show at midpoint when he left off playing the keys on his piano and started slapping it. Someone shouted out, "Doesn't that hurt your hands?" Cullum replied, "Not these hands, baby!" He then went on with a beatbox rendition of "Sexy Back," segueing into "I Got A Woman" and "Don'cha" before returning to his own composition, "Frontin'." Cullum got the audience singing along in harmony with "These Are the Days" " we got to play the horns! " and, at about the 90-minute mark, got a few couples dancing in the aisles to his swing-inspired "Twenty-Something." Jamie told the packed theatre, "I don't usually play this long for everybody!" Then he thanked the Seattle audience for their support, claiming he was going home to London to feed the cat and make a new record, but would be back in about a year. He returned to the stage for an encore of "I Could Have Danced All Night." Cullum wrapped up the US leg of his tour in California this week and continues on to Europe and Japan. Here's hoping he gets to go home soon, so he can get cracking on that new album! Balladeer Josh Ritter opened for Cullum; with a full band, Ritter sounds like a tuneful Bob Dylan fronting Calexico, not a bad combo in my estimation. He was clearly pleased to be in the Paramount, remarking that it felt like being inside a huge birthday cake. "I'm not used to being inside a place like this," he quipped, "even with tickets." My favorite of his set was "Kathleen," from his second and most successful album to date, Hello Starling. Ritter also performed "Good Man," "Wings," "Harrisburg" and "Girl in the War" before closing with a singalong to "Lillian, Egypt." This Idahoan will certainly be back with a solo

how to we rate them?

It's new!
and live from Bumbershoot!