Paul Smith - Gig Review

It would seem that the most fashionable thing for the lead signer of a band to do at the moment is to go solo. There’s been successful attempts - Kele Okereke, Fyfe Dangerfield, Cheryl Cole, and some…arguably not so much - Brandon Flowers – if you want to take a break from The Killers, why make all your songs sound like The Killers? So of course, when I heard that Paul Smith, lead singer of Maximo Park (no Google, not the fashion designer) was touring his new solo album, Margins, naturally I was a little anxious - nervous that it would be a disappointing show that I would have to pretend I liked and was only slow because it was just ‘different’ to Maximo stuff, when actually I wanted to undo the previous hour of live music and pretend Paul was still in Newcastle… As I said, nervous.

My anxieties were not put to rest by Paul’s support, Gravenhurst. An awkward man who looked as though he should work in an office stood alone on stage with an electric guitar set to clean, brown flared cords and no shoes on, basically just filling time for half an hour or so. His songs were pleasant and the music inoffensive, but my goodness he was dull. Whereas some artists can tell stories spectacularly and interest an audience with even the most mundane of tales, Connor O’Brien being a paradigm, Gravenhurst just didn’t really seem to connect. On several occasions the chatter of a restless audience grew louder than Gravenhurst, quietened really only at the end when for some reason he thought an instrumental distorted-guitar break down would be a good idea. Some would say juxtaposition, I would say ill-judged mis-match…

The atmosphere of the crowd was bizarre, but not at all unpleasant. Bush Hall is a venue with 6 hanging chandeliers, 12 warped mirrors on the walls and, more importantly on a night in December, radiators. Throughout Gravenhurst’s set, the overwhelming majority of the audience was sat cross-legged on the floor, which gave it all quite an informal feel, contrasting with the grandeur of the venue. This was a crowd I felt safe with. A crowd within which nobody minded if you were there alone (helpful when your plus one let’s you down...) A crowd that if their car were to get stuck in the snow, I wouldn’t mind helping to push.

Anyway, as soon as Paul took to the stage everyone got to their feet and moved closer, encouraged by Paul – ‘come round, it’s a cold night out there’. Opening with ‘While You’re In The Bath’, one of the most delicate and intimate songs on Margins, immediately it was clear that this was Paul Smith as Paul Smith, not the frontman of Maximo Park doing some stuff on his own.

Paul switched effortlessly between being the charismatic frontman that everybody expected - bantering naturally with the audience and dealing with the inevitable tool that’d had too many pre-gig drinks, putting everyone at ease and quietening my anxieties – and an artist with a largely previously unseen vulnerability, personally sharing his innermost thoughts.

‘The Crush And The Shatter’ being a more upbeat and textured highlight, Paul’s natural ability to tell a story made up predominantly of emotion is something that Gravenhurst should really take note of. Pausing between each song to talk to the audience, the gig was a relaxed and comfortable affair that felt rather like an old friend telling you how they’ve been getting on, rather than watching and listening to a man outlining his emotions on stage.

Performing with a band made up of friends, Paul ended with the single ‘Our Lady Of Lourdes’. Paul’s northern tones prevailed just as well in the cosy Bush Hall as they do in the vast Brixton Academy, and to be honest that man could be reading the shipping forecast and still his vocals would implore anybody not to listen as intently as they would if he were letting you into a very deep and dirty secret. An awkward shiver ran through the audience when somebody heckled a question about Maximo Park, but of course Paul took it in his stride and said reassuringly that Maximo Park are ‘alive and kicking’.

Cheered on for an encore, Paul performed a couple of Maximo Park songs acoustically. The band didn’t join Paul for the encore, which I think was probably about right. Although he wrote them, Maximo Park songs aren’t just Paul’s to do whatever he likes with, and it would’ve been wrong to see another band try and play them the same. The crowd almost subconsciously sung along with ‘apply some pressure, you lose some pressure’, and I don’t think there was one person in the room which didn’t know the words, something lovely but at the same time a bit of a shame.

You see, the crowd were all massive Maximo Park fans, which of course is a good thing because it meant that they all had a lot of time for Paul and received the performance well but, at the same time, you get the impression that Paul must find it hard not to be frustrated by the constant comparisons between Margins and the three previous Maximo albums. With him being the frontman, it would be incredibly naïve and possibly downright foolish to think that nobody would make connections, but in order to really enjoy his solo work one must forget the band, or one might be disappointed. It must be like being a twin – although you love your twin and can’t imagine life without them, you can’t help but feel a slight air of resentment when nobody seems to be able to comprehend you without the other.

Finishing with ‘Pinball’ the quietest and most elegant track on the album, Paul completely silenced the crowd for the first time that night and left to unwavering applause from an indestructibly loyal audience. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, but – and I hate myself for making this comparison – I think Paul sits better with Maximo Park. Margins was a bit of a self-indulgence – a good album, don’t get me wrong, but a self-indulgence nonetheless. Whereas some artists take a solo break as a means of escape, HELLO Cheryl Cole, this hiatus for Paul has hopefully and probably just been him displaying emotions a bit too intimate for Maximo Park. Paul Smith is not Cheryl Cole (and if Paul’s PR are going to lift any quote from this review, let’s hope it’s that one) and Maximo Park aren’t dead, but while they’re sleeping, we should leave them be and enjoy the music Paul’s producing in the meantime.

To find out more about Paul Smith: http://www.paulsmithmusic.eu/

By Rosie Macleod