Amy Winehouse_ The Biography - Chas Newkey-Burden [64]
There was heat galore during Amy’s performance at the venue, not least because it was a sell-out – a great way to start her American campaign. ‘To witness Winehouse is to wonder why art and self-destruction so often dance together,’ said one onlooker, adding that she began nervously: ‘She makes awkward chitchat in that cockney twang. Tugs distractedly at her trademark ratty do. Yanks nervously on the strapless shift that’s sliding dangerously south.’ However, she then ordered an amaretto sour, got a hearty laugh and cheer from the crowd for doing so, and then the performance immediately kicked up a gear. ‘They keep trying to keep me from drinking, but they forget it’s my gig,’ she joked, and then launched – appropriately – into ‘Rehab’.
The Village Voice hailed her as a ‘dazzling soul saviour’ and Spin magazine referred to her ‘seductive croon and impressive vocal acrobatics’ that ‘transformed the venue into a mid-century jazz club’. Universal UK’s international marketing director, Chris Dwyer, said the shows ‘really got the ball rolling. They were both sold out, had fantastic online and print reviews and everybody was talking about Amy Winehouse in New York when she left.’
Dork Magazine said, ‘Fortunately the songs sounded as good, if not better than their studio counterparts. Her stage presence initially let on that she seemed a little nervous. The audience’s encouraging shouts, and maybe those amaretto sours she drank, shooed away any butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.’ As for Bill Bragin, director of Joe’s Pub, he enthused, ‘She’s got a great voice; she’s got great songs; she’s already coming with a larger-than-life persona. She’s got all the elements of a star.’ The audience included such musical royalty as Hendryx, Citizen Cope and Dr John. Mos Def was also present and wrote his phone number on Amy’s jeans backstage and ordered her to call him. Jay-Z also came backstage and raved about Back To Black. At the end of the night, Amy summed it up in one word; ‘surreal’.
Soon she was to perform at Landsdowne Street in Boston, a 2,000-plus-capacity, multipurpose venue that regularly plays host to both the world’s top DJ talent and the world’s most popular touring artists. It was one of the first big concerts Amy performed in America. Wearing jeans and white tank top, she performed for about fifty minutes. The Patriot Ledger’s reviewer said,
She brought little to no stage presence, appeared heavily inebriated and barely moved around, delivering most of her parts without necessary oomph and often with lazy phrasing. Of the album cuts, only ‘Me and Mr Jones’ had the room bumping; other ballads, R&B nuggets and hoped-for showstoppers fell flat, despite her smoky delivery.
However, fans who were present gave far more positive reviews of her performance. So too did the Boston Globe, which chimed in with,
Winehouse was so effortlessly, unassumingly herself: no airs, no anxiety, no ingratiating shout-outs to her heroes… The plastic cup from which Winehouse sipped, and then began to drain, did work a certain magic, as the beverage seemed to go straight to her vocal pipes… Winehouse’s tones grew bigger and rounder, her licks wilder.
But the audience seemed restless at times and failed to pay attention to slower, longer tracks such as ‘Love is a Losing Game’. (However, that very song was at the same time receiving praise from none other than Prince, who said he was a huge fan of it and hoped Amy would one day join him on stage. Music producer David Gest was also quoted in the press praising Amy, though in somewhat more bizarre terms: ‘I would kiss the mole on Amy Winehouse’s face and every tattoo on her body, and I’d stick my tongue in the gap where her tooth is missing,’ he drooled. ‘I love her.’)
Soon there was a concert at the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The acts that have memorably performed there include Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Tori Amos, Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Al Stewart, Jane’s Addiction and David Bowie, and even Jay-Z & Linkin Park have played this highly prestigious