Anticipating the US release of his third studio album, Caustic Love, Paolo Nutini performed a sold-out show at the Troubadour Friday night. The packed house seemed pretty well-acquainted with the new album, which has already achieved critical success in the UK but will have its official US release on September 16th.
With its cozy, board-and-nail design, the Troubadour hosts a level of intimacy that you simply cannot get in at a larger venue, resting in a comfortable middle ground where every spot has a good view and the acoustics are tight enough that the sound system isn’t compromised by the echo of a bigger room. Judging by the performance and the soulful mastery of his latest album, it seems unlikely there will be many more opportunities to see his talent in a venue of this size.
The moment his eight-piece backing band descended the stairs and stepped out onto the stage, anticipatory screams and cheers from the audience preceded Nutini’s appearance. The band promptly embarked, riding the funk rhythms of “Scream (Funk My Life Up)” as Nutini took the mic. The crowd writhed to the groovy rhythms, a strong majority mouthing the lyrics. This continued throughout the just-under two hour set, especially the doe-eyed admirers in the front row who seemed to want nothing more than direct eye contact as they aimed their phones at him.
Although at a glance it might be tempting to dismiss Nutini as a sexy crooner, he is far from being devoid of substance. Sure, the nineteen-song set was rich with lines of the sort of love and loss and longing that is to be expected from a 27 year-old soul singer, but it also showed how much his musical and lyrical sensibilities have developed. The R&B, soul and funk tunes that make “Caustic Love” such an anachronistic gem were interspersed with pop, folk and even honky tonk songs from his prior efforts, but still tied together by a voice that can easily be compared to Sam Cooke, Percy Sledge or even Joe Cocker; this could especially be heard on folk ballads like “Better Man.” The highpoint came with the last song before the five song encore, “Iron Sky,” a slow burner from Caustic Love that features a highly emotive sound clip from Chaplin’s The Great Dictator that compliments the lyrics themselves (or vice versa), urging us to preserve our humanity and unite against the machine culture that Chaplin could see overtaking us in 1940.
The eclectic encore ended with Nutini alone on the stage with an acoustic guitar playing “Last Request.” Stepping away from the microphone, a vocal female faction in the audience sang the chorus for him before he stepped back in and rode the song to its sincere and touching close, ending the evening kneeling in a display of gratitude. From the looks of it, the feeling was mutual.
Set List
Scream (Funk My Life Up)
Let Me Down Easy
Alloway Grove
Coming Up Easy
Looking for Something
Jenny Don’t Be Hasty/New Shoes
Better Man
Diana
Tricks of the Trade
One Day
Cherry Blossom
Pencil Full of Lead
No Other Way
Iron Sky
Encore
Growing Up Beside You
Funky Cigarette
Someone Like You
Candy
Last Request
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