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Caro Emerald

Venue: Pavilion
Town: Bournemouth
Date: 9th March 2013
Website: http://www.thecarrivicksisters.co.uk

The second gig of Caro Emerald's short, 3-date English tour delighted her fans in Bournemouth. From the moment she kicked off with "Just One Dance" from her debut "Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor" album, Caro created a buzzing atmosphere. Aided by an extremely competent and well-rehearsed 8-piece band, Caro played a continuous set for nearly two hours, (with one brief costume change). Singing a mix of songs from her first album and new tunes from her forthcoming CD "The Shocking Miss Emerald", she wowed a notoriously hard-to-please South Coast audience.

By her sixth tune, her debut single "Back it Up", Caro had the entire audience on its feet and dancing in the aisles. Her new single, "Tangled Up", also had the crowd whooping and singing along with the chorus, while old favourites such as "Stuck" and "Dr Wanna Do" also went down a storm. But the best element of the show was the new material, which is as strong and varied as the songs from her first album. Particular stand outs for me were "You Don't Love Me", "Liquid Lunch" and "Paris". "Lunch" has a strong techno-swing feel, reminiscent of Caravan Palace and features excellent Manouche guitar, whilst "Paris" is a smouldering, torchy piece which starts with a jazzy piano trio, before the horn section come in to lift the emotional level.

Throughout, the band were great - with some strong solos from everyone, and tight ensemble playing. It's just a pity that you couldn't easily pick up the musicians' names from Caro's stage announcements, and most only got one name-check! But, that minor criticism apart, Caro really knows how to work an audience - she had us in the palm of her hands right from the start! Above all, she really does enjoy herself onstage, and that enthusiasm rubs off on the crowd. We were all up, singing and dancing again for "Tangled Up", and for her three encores: "The Other Woman", "Stuck" and "Mad About the Boy". Caro Emerald shows that you can combine strong lyrics with a range of tunes based on film and dance music from the 40's and 50's in a way that really rocks contemporary audiences. If you don't believe me, check out the live downloads on her website!

Martin Price