A night with Amy

Hello my lovely people! I hope you are doing well, enjoying your holidays or waiting for them to start! Today is an exciting day, as I will tell you all about a night at Jazz Cafe, dedicated to one of the most talented and popular singers of the 21st century, the one and only Amy Winehouse! She was a singer with incredible vocals, expressive contralto voice and raw talent all wrapped up in a tiny package. Amy Winehouse definitely has influenced lots of other singers since she started singing, singers such as Bruno Mars, Lana Del Rey or Sam Smith. As such, her early demise was such a sensation not only because of her age (she was only 27!) and because of the loss of her voice and talent.

As soon as one of my friends heard that Jazz Cafe would have a night dedicated to Amy, she told me and I was all for it! I may not be one of her most serious fans, but I can appreciate a voice when I listen to it, and I can tell you that Amy’s voice was incredible! So, we decided to go on a Monday night after work, days before the 23rd of July, the anniversary of her death. We were so excited to go and to be honest the band didn’t disappoint in the slightest. We had fun, we danced, we sang along, in essence celebrated the singer Amy and her accomplishments in a night wholly dedicated to her. It was fantastic!

The evening started around 8.30 and the band had two sets prepared. I think that they had some technical issues in the beginning, as we couldn’t hear the singer’s voice, however after the second song that was remedied. The crowd was following her every lyric of the songs, which I found so inspiring and amazing! There was even a young lady at the front that the singer thanked as she was singing through the songs the whole night! The night started a bit slow – as I expected – with some lovely songs throughout, like Me and Mr. Jones, Take the Box or Stronger than me, but that doesn’t mean that the hits didn’t start coming until the second set!

Rehab, You Know I’m no Good, Back to Black were all played for us and I was curious, to be honest, to listen to them. I anticipated that they would keep it to the original and try to imitate Amy’s style, however that is so not the case! The band made their own rendition of these highly popular songs and in the end the result was brilliant. Of course you could find jazz and neo-soul there (Amy perfected that!), but it was their own style, and I think that made a lot of difference. It wasn’t an imitation, rather a celebration, and in that sense I would say that the band was very successful.

After the first set and the break, I do believe that the band was even more keen to celebrate Amy’s life and songs! We started on a high note, and kept like that until the end (and encore). We had so much fun then and the energy was unbelievable! This is why we like live gigs so much! The energy from the bands to the audience and back is the stuff of legends! It moves you and inspires you and the way this band (unfortunately I don’t know their name! And it’s a pity, as I would like to see them perform again!) paid a tribute to one of the most recognisable voices of the 21st century is mind-boggling! Sadly though it was almost 10 in the evening and the gig had to end. And what better way to end it than Valerie?

Overall it was an amazing school-night out. The music was fantastic, the band was perfect, even the main singer was visually inspired by the great Amy Winehouse, what with the flower on her hair! It’s such a pity Amy is not among us, however her voice still lives on! And Jazz Cafe –  once more – were successful in organising an event celebrating the life of such a complicated soul, as Amy’s. Many thanks to everyone behind it, it was simply fabulous!

Till next time,

Sofia-Maria