March 5th 2012, Olympia Theatre, Dublin.
Last time I saw Melanie C live was in 2001, she was still riding high on the back of a string of hits from ‘Northern Star’. As of tonight, Melanie C has released a grand total of five albums, had parted company with a major label and has successfully run her own label Red Girl Records. She made her way to Dublin’s Olympia for one of the last gigs of her tour in support of ‘The Sea’.
Warming up the crowd were locals, Keywest, a pop rock five piece who had cut their teeth on the busking scene. Tracks from their album ‘The Message’ were well received, including the singles “Feel So Cruel’ and ‘In The Fight For Love’. This is a grittier track and best of the night by them. They also did a cover of 2Pac’s California in a stripped down busker style set up with cajon instead of drums. Not bad, a nice warm up but they need to pack more of a punch.
On previous occasions when I had seen Mel live, I was impressed by the amount of energy that was in her shows, waiting for her to come onstage, I hoped I hadn’t made a bad decision, I hoped she would live up to the memory I had of those gigs. I really needn’t have worried. Backed by a seven piece band, including two backing singers, Mel strutted onstage to a great reception, despite the fact that the venue was fully seated. (more…)