JAMES ARTHUR | LIVE REVIEW
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Tues 8 Jan
The anticipated arrival of The X Factor winner James Arthur at St David’s Hall created an ear splitting reaction from the mainly pre-pubescent girls who have yet to discover soft & gentle armpit spray and in most cases accompanied by their embarrassing screaming mothers. In a mindboggling welcome that only can be described akin to the arrival of the son of god on a skateboard.
Having sat through an hour and a bit of unrelenting mumbling, mediocre singing, and the repetition of “I love you” and “you’re a beautiful crowd”, I’m struggling to give credence to the audience’s overreaction. Yes, he writes his own stuff, yes he dueted with Emeli Sande and yes he won X-Factor, but that doesn’t give him this kind of elevated kudos that seems to have developed at an alarming rate in this current age of TV stardom. Unfortunately Arthur sounds like any other X Factor progeny – unremarkable. Not outstanding, not dreadful, just middling. The occasional technical feedback issues and screaming made deciphering his voice more of a hindrance than it should have been. He may develop over time and produce some exciting music, but time will surely tell. The only highlight was a pleasant acoustic rendition of Recovery.
words ANTONIA LEVAY