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APR 21 09 Review: Lemar at Bournemouth International Centre
Who would have thought that a losing contestant from ‘Fame Academy’ would have gone on to sign a £1 million record deal with Sony Music, win two BRIT Awards and become one of Britain’s successful solo male artists? Well Lemar has, and performed at the Bournemouth International Centre last night as part of his UK tour.With the support act ‘The Score’, a five piece boy band having done a fantastic job of warming up the audience, the screams and tension in the room built to a huge height, full of anticipation and excitement. The music roared, with beams of light coming from inside a large drawn curtain. It dropped and in a spotlight, coolly slumped back in a chair was Lemar. Looking sleek and stylish all in black, with massive sunglasses, he bursts into ’The Reason’, the first track on his brand new album. The dark, glittery set made you focus totally upon the music and how fantastic it sounded. Straight after came another new track ‘Heartbreaker’, full of fun, colour and fabulous entertainment.
Going back to some of his previous songs, ‘Soulman’, ‘50/50′ and ‘Dance (With You)’ proved popular, with everyone bopping to the beats. It was clear to see this mans raw talent just oozing from him, with top notch singing and performance to go with it. The carnival like atmosphere got everyone on their feet. All ages and genders danced the night away to Lemar’s soulfull tunes.
Taking a break from all the singing, you realise what a beautiful talking voice Lemar has, being very gravely and calming. He’s also very humble, funny and comes across as such a normal person, sitting down on the side of the stage to have a general chat to the whole audience. He then picks on one very lucky girl in the audience, who goes up on stage and is sung to and kissed by the man himself. As every single female in the room wishes it was her on that stage, he guides her off, winks to the audience and removes his t-shirt just as the lights dim.
When he comes back on, he continues to sing some good old classic ballads, like ‘What About Love?’ and new track ‘Mayday’. He’s incredibly good at putting emotion into all of the lyrics, so they become something more than just words. His performance of it too creates a story that you are able to feel and understand; a talent that I think is quite hard to achieve.
Brining back the festival atmosphere, his fantastic band, who are just as entertaining to watch played a selection of songs from his new album, ‘Trust Me’ and ‘If She Knew’. Adding to this, a rendition of ‘Beggin’ by Madcon saw the whole room involved in a dance routine which everyone seemed to enjoy.
But my favourite moments of the night had to be two completely different songs. Firstly was Lemar’s own song ‘Lullaby’, written in the days of his ‘Fame Academy’ appearance. It was a phenomenal performance and you couldn’t help but smile and listen in awe of his heart melting vocals. But the second was a huge surprise. As the band started, it was instantly recognisable as Kings of Leons’ ‘Sex on Fire’. For a second, I thought it wasn’t going to work with the two acts having such different styles of R&B and rock, but I was wrong. Lemar’s gravely tones and crystal clear voice hit every single note perfectly. It was superb and the highlight of the entire night.
‘Wait of the World’ was the last song of the evening with no one, including Lemar, wanting it to end. The whole concert was amazing, with sensational singing and marvellous music.
Who says you have to be a winner to get anywhere in life?
Review: Megan Sheath for http://buzz.bournemouth.ac.uk/?p=3728
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