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I was extremely excited, when I was asked to go down to Ronnie Scotts in Birmingham to review the Omar Show. I have admired the works of Omar for years and he has never failed to inspire me. He’s been bubbling under the surface for a decade or so… making quality music and his style continues to mature. He is truly setting the pace for black British music, a fact that simply cannot be ignored. As one of the U.K’s leading multi-talented musicians, it was an honour to be there. There is something particularly appealing about watching this great heavyweight perform live. He embraces the sound of old skool and enhances those sounds with his classy, sensual and unique both musical style.
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It was about 10 o’clock and still no sign of Omar. I was beginning to get nervous at the thought of him commencing his performance late only to perform a forty-five minute set…But Oh! This was not to be the case. At 10.15pm his band walked on the stage…at this point the excitement was building inside of me, because I knew exactly what I would be getting. I got the impression that the rest of the crowd felt the same, because there were still silences just as the band were walking onto the stage. As soon as the band played the first note, the crowd went wild with excitement! Omar walked on in his usual cool style and just gave us a note…That was it! People were jumping out of their chairs. I knew I was in for a treat! He started his set with a fantastic performance of ‘Music’…Oh my God! That was it, being one of my favourite tracks I couldn’t help but scream! He went on to perform the melancholy ‘Little Boy’, at which point the double bass came out, fabulous!!! I think the point where the crowd were literally uncontrollable, was when he decided to sing the hit ‘There’s nothing like this’…There were screams and shouts. The once reserved seated crowd were now banging away at their tables and chairs! The place caught fire… The band were tight and completely in-tuned with Omar’s’ vibe. His little sister Sammia Hammer-Lyefhook was on backing vocals, she performed in place of Kele le Roc on the track ‘Come On’ (from the Best by far album) as Kele couldn’t be there…(and boy, did she miss out!!!) Also on bv’s was the sound of the chocolatey, beautiful, old skool voice of Chris Ballin. What? The man had a voice of silk; he was a cross between Teddy Pendergrass and Will Downing. Omar went on to perform all of my favourites from past albums as well as from the most recent ‘Best by far’ album…I felt as if Christmas had come early. He actually performed ‘Best by far’ in a heavy dub fashion, which could quite easily have shattered Ronnie Scotts’ foundations! The show had elements of soul, Jazz, dub and Latin flavours, but what else could we expect from this man? I thought the show had ended when they all walked off the stage…but I thought, ‘he hasn’t done his usual party piece, where he uses parts of his body to make musical sounds and sing at the same time…what? As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the audience started banging and shouting ‘More, More, More!!!’ and on he walked! Yes…and at that point, we were all very, very happy. The engaging performance lasted an hour and a half and I felt totally satisfied. I love, admire and respect the man and his music and wish him a long reign! Because he has been given one of the most precious gifts that God could possibly have given him and he is using it to full capacity without selling out. He truly deserves respect. Extremely refreshing. Wouldn’t you agree??? Phew!!! A rather excitable, breathless and exhausted… Drea x
Peace…
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