Thursday night saw California blues rockers Rival Sons stroll into town bringing along with them their good friend and fellow Cali singer/songwriter, Jameson Burt. Taking up residence in all their finery at one of our newest and most exciting venues, Gorilla. The good weather followed them to Manchester with scorching temperatures and sunny skies all round. It’s safe to say, things were already off to a great start.
This being the second time that Jameson has travelled to Manchester and delighted us with his soul rollicking blues rock. Just a few months back, he was playing a room the size of a shoebox to a crowd that wasn’t a tenth of the size of tonight’s, it just shows how quickly things can develop. Jameson opens the show, being the first act of the night is a daunting prospect for any artist. Nonetheless, Burt rose to the occasion taking the opportunity to unveil and test out some of his new material, one which he said he had only played once before at a gig the previous day, along with tracks from his début EP, Pronto, things were off to a flying start.
Jameson’s refined songcraft creates an atmosphere in a live room that’s electric and engulfing, his intensely heated emotional lyrical style only compliments his impressive vocal range which goes from falsetto through to a deep, rasping growl. From the angelic, chill-inducing “Let You Be” to the whiskey-soaked groovin’ blues number “Bourbon” Burt soared from song to song, he had the audience in the palm of his hand. To say it’s one only man up on such a large stage, it’s a combination that could easily go awry but he does well to maintain the full attention of the crowd leaving them awe-struck and spellbound, a testament to the quality of his material.
While of course being the support act isn’t always plain-sailing, you’re not always going to win everyone over, that’s true. But what Jameson achieved was quite miraculous. After the last chord rang out, what Burt was greeted to was nothing less than a standing ovation, a very well deserved reaction from a generous and happy crowd.
Jameson is a fiery and passionate performer coupled with a husky, heart-wrenching vocal, he is unstoppable. You can’t help but fall in love with his music and it’s safe to say the majority of the room were enchanted by his performance – heads bobbing up and down, people were feeling it, cheering and screaming for more. I think Jameson won over a few people in the crowd to say the least. It’s a nice sight to see when an artist you’ve followed for a while receives this kind of reception from a crowd, that are mostly, if not all, new to the music. I think we all can agree that we’ll be seeing bigger crowds turning up for his sets and hopefully a lot more of Jameson gracing much bigger stages in Manchester in the future.
Grab a copy of Jameson’s EP ‘Pronto’ here and catch him live Sunday 15th June at The Baltic Social in Liverpool (Free Entry) 2.30pm start and his last date supporting Rival Sons in Edinburgh at Liquid Rooms on Monday 16th June.
