The first time I saw JP Cooper was almost a year before this gig. It was at The Wardrobe in Leeds before I really knew much of his music at all. I found him through Jonas Blue's song Perfect Strangers and remember being taken aback by the voice and wanting to hear more. This second gig is in the Leeds University union, although I have to admit I prefer The Wardrobe as a venue, a couple of weeks following the release of his first album Raised Under Grey Skies.
It's hot in the room, overbearingly so and the pint of beer seems like it's just dehydrating me more so. I start to forget about this as the band walk on stage led by a front man so humble that everything he says you can tell is true and honest and he is genuinely so thankful for his audience. Which just makes me happy for the rest of the gig. The noticeable difference from the gig before is the whole set up is bigger, the sound is deeper and it is so much more professional, yet holds a sense of familiarity.
If you’ve ever heard JP’s recorded stuff you’d know it was pretty poppy, suitable-for-the-chart kind of music. And if, like me, you’d heard his acoustic stuff before he started releasing singles, like the first time I saw him, you’d be a little disappointed with the generic musicality of the recorded stuff. The live band, however, is full of virtuosic musicians, and the sound is bluesy, soulful and full of emotion.
Honestly the majority of the audience seem to be couples constantly glued to each other whilst me and my stand with a platonic distance between us sharing the odd smile. Both of us thinking, poor guys being dragged along by their girlfriends until, quite refreshingly, I look to my right and there's a guy belting out the lyrics of September Song.
Comentários