The weather may be barely warm enough for short sleeves in Chicago, but Jamie Lidell still managed to set the Abbey Pub ablaze on Wednesday night (June 4). Yes, he sings like he’s possessed by the soul of Ray Charles and commands a crack band like a young Stevie Wonder. Yes, it’s curious that this whirlwind of mid-century American jazz, soul, and funk comes packaged in form of a skinny white English bloke, but it’s the less obvious flashes of quirky pluck that proved Lidell’s virtuosity to the sold out Chicago crowd. Whether it was sending his band mates into the crowd to stoke the dance party during the jam-happy “When I Come Back Around” or dropping the microphone and going for broke with a couple of pasty dude dance moves during “A Little Bit More,” Lidell’s ability to go above and beyond the call of ‘entertainer’ made it obvious that his huge crossover appeal in Britain is wholly warranted. It was this uncommon intersection of massive talent with an uncanny sense of performance timing and more than a bit of dumb luck that kept the Abbey crowd matching Lidell’s sweat output all night, and who can blame them?

Critical accolades for recent LP Jim rightly laud his exquisite ear for R & B melody and knack for interjecting infectious 20^th-century pop tricks like scat and doo-wop into London-worthy club beats and swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, but there are certain intangibles of genius that are only apparent in a live setting. Sure, it’s impressive to keep a packed house shimmying en masse from the intro music to the last notes of the encore, but it’s certainly not unique. Sticking a microphone in a my face for an impromptu lead “woo hoo!” during “Out Of My System,” just as I’m scribbling a note about his ‘sticking the mic in random audience members’ faces for an impromptu lead “woo hoo!” during “Out Of My System?’” That’s the kind of weird, auspicious stuff that only happens to legends in the making.

MP3: Jamie Lidell - Little Bit of Feel Good (Mondkopf remix)

Photo by Laura Gray

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