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Review: James McCartney, The Cavern, Liverpool
by Marc Waddington, Liverpool Echo
Apr 4 2012
THERE are many sons and daughters of famous parents, but some parents are more famous than others.
Surely for the children of even remotely famous parents, it’s a struggle to make a name for yourself.
But what must it be like when your dad is arguably one of the most famous people who ever lived?
One option is to break the mould and do with your own life something completely different, lest you be compared to your famous progenitor.
So, in that respect, you have to take your hat off to James McCartney, considering that, as a musician, he is walking in a very long shadow.
It was hard not to think that many of the audience were there on the off-chance that Sir Paul himself would make a surprise appearance for the encore. That wasn’t to be, but McCartney Junior’s performance was worthy in itself.
His music is an interesting blend of influences: primarily a big wedge of his dad’s old chum Neil Young, with a slice of Jeff Buckley thrown in to the mix.
It’s easy to see why he is popular in the USA, as his sound (while vocally reminiscent of his dad) is very American. The four-piece combo with him were clearly extremely capable and tight, and, taken out of the Beatles context, would have been a perfectly solid little outfit that would have gone down well with the attendant crowd.
But where we’re used to seeing Sir Paul bouncing around the stage for three hours, thumbs up, shadow boxing, the younger member of the clan seems quite awkward in front of an audience, and hardly said a word to the crowd throughout the whole, albeit short, gig.
The highlights were the last number of the set, Moonstar, which, after all the introspection of the earlier songs, was a welcome foray into old school rock and roll, and his cover of Neil Young’s Old Man.
For a musician with such a famous old man, he can never hope to achieve the same level of success, but fair play to him, for all his awkwardness, for trying to eke a living out of doing what he feels most comfortable with, even if it does overload him with the weight of expectation.
7/10 Here comes the son
But what must it be like when your dad is arguably one of the most famous people who ever lived?
One option is to break the mould and do with your own life something completely different, lest you be compared to your famous progenitor.
It was hard not to think that many of the audience were there on the off-chance that Sir Paul himself would make a surprise appearance for the encore. That wasn’t to be, but McCartney Junior’s performance was worthy in itself.
His music is an interesting blend of influences: primarily a big wedge of his dad’s old chum Neil Young, with a slice of Jeff Buckley thrown in to the mix.
It’s easy to see why he is popular in the USA, as his sound (while vocally reminiscent of his dad) is very American. The four-piece combo with him were clearly extremely capable and tight, and, taken out of the Beatles context, would have been a perfectly solid little outfit that would have gone down well with the attendant crowd.
But where we’re used to seeing Sir Paul bouncing around the stage for three hours, thumbs up, shadow boxing, the younger member of the clan seems quite awkward in front of an audience, and hardly said a word to the crowd throughout the whole, albeit short, gig.
The highlights were the last number of the set, Moonstar, which, after all the introspection of the earlier songs, was a welcome foray into old school rock and roll, and his cover of Neil Young’s Old Man.
For a musician with such a famous old man, he can never hope to achieve the same level of success, but fair play to him, for all his awkwardness, for trying to eke a living out of doing what he feels most comfortable with, even if it does overload him with the weight of expectation.
7/10 Here comes the son
3 comments:
Great performance thanks for sharing,I wish I was there
He's looking much better the longer hair suits him well,he just needs to shed a few pounds and he'll be perfect!
I agree he looks better,but still not really at ease on stage though,thanks for the great coverage of James' tour.
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