Did he enjoy the performance? Was he tired? Paolo Nutini often rubbed his eyes and didn’t seem very inspired. His concert, Saturday evening in Paradiso, Amsterdam, became a ‘come back’ in more ways than one. It was the first time in a long time that Nutini gave a major performance in the Netherlands, and he struggled from a shaky start to a more energetic ending during the evening.
Still, there was something elusive about the Glasgow singer. Paolo Nutini, 35, started his career as a teenager, completing hit songs such as 2007’s “New Shoes.” He then explored the genres of soul and psychedelia on his album Caustic Love (2014). Now, eight years later, he bundles different styles and influences, as can be heard on last summer’s release Last Night In The Bittersweet. In Paradiso he played this new album almost in its entirety. As a result, he pointed out a lot, but there was no unambiguous mood.
Beautiful stage image
The arrangement of Nutini and his six band members provided a beautiful stage image. As if we were visiting the rehearsal room, with instruments lying around everywhere and musicians playing concentratedly. The stage was lit by projections of liquid slides in faded colors. Nutini stood at the front right, playing the piano now and then, or on acoustic guitar.
Visually, the performance referenced the 1970s but the songs zigzag through all the decades. Nutini veered from bombast as from fellow townsmen Simple Minds, to soul rock, to straightforward sing-along songs and a single adventurous intermezzo, in which the instrumentations were allowed to expand.
The sold-out crowd became enthusiastic halfway through, with songs like ‘Petrified In Love’ and the older ‘Pencil Full Of Lead’. There was full singing and dancing. This was Nutini as a crowd favorite, loved for its smooth melodies and compact choruses. He is forgiven for snatching from the coffers of his examples – Led Zeppelin, Otis Redding – because he does it with reverence.
As the following stirred, Nutini remained restrained, both physically and vocally. He barely danced or moved. And where was the grater, his trademark? In ‘Scream’ or ‘Coming Up Easy’, for example, he seemed to spare his voice. The vocals sounded sloping rather than ragged.
The best moments of the performance were hidden in unexpected digressions. In the subtle interplay of organ and bass guitar in the poignant ‘Let Me Down Easy’ and here and there a grunting synthesizer. Details like these gave his songs relief.