Paolo Nutini at The Mod Club, Toronto. March 7th 2007

It's minus 10 degrees outside, but really, the fans don't seem to care.
The crowd isn't a big one, but then again, neither is the club but it's packed to capacity. By the time Paolo Nutini and his band hit the stage, there are people everywhere, swarming the floor and hanging off the balconies, each as eager as the next for the show to start.
The crowd here is mixed, posh young 'scene' girls scramble for floor space beside the skinny hipsters and even some more mature members of the audience, but despite their differences, all will let out a roar of approval when Paolo saunters onto the stage and jumps straight into the set.

While the music is wonderful and emotionally powerful, all delivered with a very sexy ease of character, it is almost immediately apparent that Paolo is not in top form. His eyes are heavily lidded (only opening to focus when he picks up the guitar) and when he speaks into the mic, the result is a nearly incomprehensible slur of words. The music, however, does not suffer and the fans flocking the floor do more than enough in attempts to fuel Paolo's energy and keep him going.

It was a good show. This young man is extremely talented and his songs are filled with gripping lyrics. The music that cradles his voice, which is a husky baritone that sends most girls into peals of fan-girlish-giggles, walks a fine line between rock and something much more subtle. His band provides the audience with easy smiles and a wonderful rhythm that keeps the blood pumping and their bodies can't help but move with the beat.

Paolo and the band never made it back on stage for their final two songs (what was to be their encore and last hurrah!) due to their singer's exhaustion and somewhat shaky health, but at this point, I don't think it was needed. The fans walked away happily satisfied and thrumming while the band shuffled their tired singer into the bus.
Tonight they drive to Montreal before heading off to the United States and finally the UK.

If Paolo Nutini can keep reaching fans the way he did tonight, it can be guaranteed that when he returns to Canada, he will be playing a much larger venue, and to a much larger crowd.

Review by Einat Brigler


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