Guitar virtuoso has audience spellbound
LIVE REVIEW: Jon Gomm (with support from Gallo) at Peel Centenary Centre, Saturday, December 1 REVIEWER: John Gregory PHOTOS: Mike Wade
IF any solo performer wants to have a lesson in how to captivate an audience then they should go and see Jon Gomm.
>>Click here to view photo slideshow
He returned to the Peel Centenary Centre on Saturday — just over a year since his first visit — and left everyone there spellbound once again.
Jon's act is unique as the way he plays the guitar is staggering.
In fact he is as much a percussionist as a guitarist in the traditional sense, hitting the side of his instrument to make a variety of noises to accompany his voice as well as creating magic with those six strings.
He uses a range of effects and tunings to make his style his own and I cannot think of any player I have ever seen who is even comparable.
Jon's own songs are usually atmospheric — such as the beautiful Waterfall and Hey Child, the latter about a runaway — and they can be humorous too. He introduced one song, Gloria, as being about 'my girlfriend when I was 18 — she was a chav'.
Not only is he a highly accomplished musician his sense of humour made him a great all round performer and entertainer. He highlighted the 'injustice' of how John Lennon and Martin Luther King were killed by just one bullet, while rapper 50 Cent had been shot nine times and was still alive.
He also urged audience members to buy one of his CDs as 'my grandma needs an operation'.
'I keep telling her she's too old for a boob job,' he quickly added.
As well as his own music he made some well chosen covers very much his own too, such as Bob Marley's Waiting in Vain and Radiohead's High and Dry.
For an encore he performed the Fine Young Cannibals hit She Drives Me Crazy, complete with audience participation. Of course, even this had its own stamp on it and he ended the song by firing off a handful of classic rock riffs just for good measure.
He was rewarded with a standing ovation and the man is a true original. Both his visits have been thanks to Jonno Gollow of jonnopromotions and after such a fantastic show I am sure Mr Gomm will surely be visiting our shores again in future.
Even the support act, Gallo, consisting of Natasha Koczy on vocals and saxophone and friend Bonnie Curtis on guitar were a target for his great sense of humour.
'They both have jazz degrees which is really useful when applying for jobs,' he remarked.
They opened the show with their own songs such as Wasted 'we wrote it when we were at college — that explains it', Backlash — based upon some of the reviews they have received — and Airbrush, the title track from their forthcoming album Airbrush! (Cautionary Tales for Teenage Girls).
>>All pictures are available to view and buy at photostoday.co.uk
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Weather for Isle of Man
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
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