IMELDA MAY | LIVE REVIEW
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Fri 5 May
Holy hot-rod! Yes, the commotion is true concerning Imelda May’s new look and album. Shock and awe. But has the queen really relinquished her crown? That’s what she says. I’m not quite so sure. While she has ditched her trademark two-tone quiff and 50s finery, you can take the girl out of the rockabilly (clothes) but you can’t take the rockabilly out of the girl – I mean woman.
She’s gone through more than just external changes in the past couple of years: divorce from husband (and collaborator) of over a decade, guitarist Darrel Higham. Death of a family member and of a friend. Fallen in love again and had her heart broken. She bared her soul on her excellent, reflective record Life. Love. Flesh. Blood and wanted to break free of her old image, not least because she felt like she was dressing up to become Imelda May and tired of it.
One of the first things to herald a change tonight was the clue in the intro music, The Velvet Underground’s Venus In Furs. Her transformation into a stripped-back, fringe-haired rocker did make you do a double-take but made her appear more natural. May came out in all black and promptly took a seat for her ballad of waiting for your lover to ring, Call Me, with a single spotlight shining on her. Grand. Announcing “Let’s have a bit of Jesus in the house,” she then launched into the keyboard- and horn-heavy, gospel-infused When It’s My Time and continued the introspection.
May showed off her rock chops admirably, too but still shone on rockabilly and country-tinged tunes such as the heat-seeking missile full of yearning Sixth Sense (“It’s when you meet somebody that you met before that you just can’t keep away from,” she said) and Big Bad Handsome Man – during which she introduced a newlywed couple who shared a dance together. More changes of pace included the Latin-flavoured, steamy, dreamy How Bad Can A Good Girl Be and the hard-driving tribal lust of The Longing (particularly good drumming and psychedelic-ish reverb guitar).
The 42-year-old again showed a softer side with more ballads, the bluesy mascara-running-down-your face Black Tears (excellent slide guitar work) and the lovely Levitate. May’s whole band – acoustic and electric lead/ rhythm guitar, double/electric bass, keyboards, drums, trumpet and sax – were great. She came downstage with just her acoustic guitarist, before dedicating the beautiful The Girl I Used To Be to her daughter Violet. May showed that even though she can belt out with the best, her wonderful voice is especially stunning on slower songs, also.
While I felt a bit nostalgic for the guitar sounds of her ex, the show was less spontaneous as her last time here, and I felt some steam was lost in the two encores, I can’t really fault May’s singing or the group’s playing. A very good introduction to the new-version Imelda, who hasn’t entirely left the old one behind. words RHONDA LEE REALI photo GARETH GRIFFITHS
