thanks deesha -- sounds like one to catch for sure! -- and i understand.. "unless it's jamiroquai" .. hehehe

I know this is like a month old, but I've been stressed people!

Anyway, I got the pleasure of seeing Jamie Cullum in the beautiful Kimmel Center in Philadelphia on 3/24/06. First of all, for those who haven't been in the Kimmel Center, it's overwhelming. It's a new state of the art performance center with acoustics that are mind blowing. It has 360 degree seating in one of the halls (where Jamie performed), and from wherever you are, you can hear the concert perfectly.

And Jamie took full advantage of that. I was 1 of like 5 Black people up in there, which was kind of strange, but expected..really...

This little short British piano import took the stage with his band of 4 and captivated the crowd with his fusion of jazz and pop and just a tint of soul. All the cuts I wanted to hear, I heard. Such as "Mind Trick", "Nothing I Do", "Twentysomething" and "I Could Have Danced All Night", which he ended with.

He played for about 2 straight hours, and wanted to go longer, but said he'd be fined if he went over his time. Kimmel Center is VERY strict with this. He did about 15-16 songs and at one point something happened, which was absolutely amazing. He, along with his saxaphonist came out into the audience. Just them and a mic. He sang while walking around the audience with the sax man. A couple points, he wanted to test out the acoustics and stepped away from the mic and sang. His voice was so powerful that those on the top level could hear the echo, echo, echo. He walked up one aisle and down another. I thought this gave a great connection with the audience and allowed people to witness him up close.

He quickly got annoyed with how stiff the crowd was and commented that he understand the Kimmel is stuffy, but please get out your seats and come join him by the stage. Herds of fans ran (girls), not me. Because I'm too old to be acting crazy like that (Unless it's Jamiroquai).

Jamie also does this percussion inspired number called "Nature Boy". It seems to have a Carnival vibe, and it's very animalistic and spontaneous. He just bangs on drums while his band contributes each with their own instruments. This got people moving. He also did a live rendition of "Frontin", which was fine, but they added this echo to the chorus part, which didn't sound right. He played guitar on current hit "London Skies" too.

He brought out the opener Brandi Carlisle to do a duet of Elton's Rocketman with him, which sounded great. I wasn't impressed with her set, but I dug her voice in the duet.

Jamie is an entertainer. He bangs on the piano keys and the body of it at times. He stands on it, sits on it, runs to it and just acts completely crazy. He's very theatrical, but it's all backed up with a voice and with talent. He kept making references to Philly like about cheesesteaks and recalled his performance at World Cafe Live and Zanzibar Blue. He is hilarious and joked most of the night. He tried hard to connect with everyone and I think he did. People (self included) were highly impressed.

I got to meet him afterwards and the man is kind, very kind.

The show was so dope, I'm going to see him again in Atlantic City at House of Blues on June 25th. If you are a Jamie fan and you missed this show, I say go...it's worth the dough!