Mayer Hawthorne – Just ain’t gonna work out (Rory McDermott guest gig review)

Mayer Hawthorne, Scala, 7th March 2012:

In 1965 James Brown (and the Famous Flames) appeared in a naff woolly jumper on a television show called Ski party. Shot for a largely white audience it was surely his most sterilized peformace, watered down for white sensibilities. Like John Belushi appearing in Little House on the Prairie

And so I spent the first 20mins of the gig- feeling a bit duped. A rather lanky but well preened Michael McDonald flanked by a Ralph Lauren boy band sang through a nu-soul repertoire.

Then something quite odd happened – the music picked up, the crowd limbered and I stopped being a complete prat – I came round to his thoroughly infectious routine. By the start of the second half he had me in the pocket of his red velvet tuxedo.

Mayer Hawthorne is an entertaining guy, amicable and humorous when interacting with the crowd. His songs are overtly tongue-in-cheek with crooning more Neil Hannon than Neil Diamond (Note; can carry a tune better than either…..)

The smooth tone voice and falsetto range are a direct throwback to his musical roots (He grew up in Detroit, Michigan – The Motor City which put the MO in Motown). But this was not an imitation cover gig; it was a show. And a bloody good one.

From MH’s Twitter

RMcD