We went to see Amy Winehouse at the Hammersmith Apollo. I don’t think I’ve ever been at a concert containing a more muted audience. It felt like there was a collective holding of breath, willing her to get through it. She did get through it, but not easily and she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself remotely.
She is fascinating to watch, she appeared over an hour late and didn’t engage with the crowd at all. The most extraordinary voice emerges from her teeny weeny body but she was all over the place. Her body won’t quite do what she wants it to. Her band were brilliant, but almost made her look even more out of it by their enthusiastic moves. She fiddled with her hair, her bra, her hem line endlessly and if she was looking for coke in her beehive, it was clearly so firmly entrenched in there that she couldn’t find it.
There was a lot of booing. A significant number of people were convinced that a number of the songs were mimed. I felt sorry for her. I felt like a voyuer. I blame the record company and the promoters. She shouldn’t be doing a concert, she should be sorting herself out. She made “Rehab” look like a parody of itself. It’s not even funny. Somebody take control. Don’t let one of the biggest talents to emerge this century fuck it all up.
Motheratlarge
November 26, 2007I’m sad for Amy Winehouse. Like you, I think she has stunning talent and her finger is firmly on the self-destruct button. I hope somehow she can turn things round for herself.