Review: John Grant, Colston Hall

John Grant usually cuts a lonely figure on stage – him and a piano belting out powerful, self-deprecating yet inspirational ballads – but here he was joined by a stage full of talented musicians in the shape of the Royal Northern Sinfonia orchestra and his Icelandic band mates. There aren’t many vocalists who could hold their own among the might of a full orchestra, but Grant did so seemingly effortlessly.

Expletives are littered through his songs – even making it into the title of GMF (Greatest Mother… I’ll leave you to fill in the gap). He opened with You Don’t Have To, dropping an F bomb in the first few lines – an odd partnership with the traditional orchestra vibes, odd but utterly compelling. The juxtaposition between traditional music and contemporary synth led indie inevitably surfaced throughout this show, but in an amazing way. Grant’s right hand man, Chris Pemberton, threw some terrifically smooth shapes as the layers of the orchestra built and built, while conductor, Christopher George, turned leading an orchestra into the most magnificent interpretive dance.

A trio of accomplished contemporary Icelandic musicians were positioned perfectly above the orchestra in what constituted a studio-like setting. The synth-meister would not have been out of place at a night club gig and the drummer’s brilliant restrained drumming provided a subtle groove throughout. As a standalone offering, these songs – songs such as Vietnam, Marz and It’s Easier, have the power to reduce you to tears but with the backing of a full orchestra – wow, this was something else.

It Doesn’t Matter To Him received a complete re-working with bright blue audience facing lights and dry ice to add to the impact. It ended up sounding like the grand finale of a stunning musical score. The pace slowed a little for a stunning piano-led rendition of The Czars’ Drug, which paved the way perfectly for Queen of Denmark.

Three new songs were commissioned for these shows (thank you Music Beyond Mainstream) – Geraldine, Global Warming and No More Tangles, after which Grant said: “Wow, right?!” voicing exactly what we were all thinking. Fiona Bruce, the woman responsible for arranging these classical scores joined Grant on stage for the impeccable Where Dreams Go To Die, adding a carefully placed brief female vocal perspective to proceedings.

A standing ovation preceded a remarkable encore, during which Grant took on the persona of a camp, hilarious German dude – with a partial rap expressed through a vocoder called That’s The Good News. It was like Pet Shop Boys meets Daft Punk. A sweet performance of Fireflies, dedicated to his sister Susan and with distinct whiffs of Billy Joel acted as a segue to Caramel which ended the show at an unusually early 9.40pm. The audience lamenting the departure of such a magical team.

Photo by Rachael Robinson