After her third album ‘Glasshouse’ charted in the Top 10 last year, she has had a string of sell out shows, but of course Manchester is a special venue, our crowds well known for their boisterousness.
Even Jessie’s mum – who features in her hilariously incredible podcast ‘Table Manners’ whereby Jessie and her mother interview the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith – told her to ‘make extra effort with her hair, as ‘this is Manchester!’
A vision of black and white polka dot, Jessie Ware was a glorious leading lady on the Manchester Apollo stage last Friday. Affront a 5 piece band, a backdrop of projected sea scapes and a poem, she mesmerized the crowd as her red lips sang a range of new and old, well known tunes.
Starting slow with Sam, ‘My Baby and Me’, the emotional percussion and touching lyrics about embarking upon being a full time mother moved most of the crowd to tears. A few of the boyfriends dragged along as a plus one shifted uncomfortably as the song spoke of love and motherhood, but the whole room was hypnotized almost to silence as Jessie finished the intense song.
Despite part two being labeled ‘The Climax’, marking the end of the ballads and the start of the upbeat tunes that saw Jessie dancing with her band, the crowd remained extremely still. Even Jessie herself, who could switch between singing so angelically to addressing the crowd with all the vigor of a south east London gangsta so seamlessly, remarked at how polite the crowd was being. Hitting every note of ‘Champaign Kisses’ her deliciously velvety performance dominated the room.
But as if to reaffirm that the gig was in fact in Manchester, a curly black wig was launched flying onto the stage landing at Jessie’s feat mid song. Finishing with top hit Wildest Moments, she paraded around with the curly locks dangling over her shoulder like a sassy run way model, the crowd laughing and dancing along.
Fashioned in a black and white outfit, it suited her look surprisingly well and she handled the whole thing with pure class. Twitter blew up with comments about her ‘wig-snatching’ performance, and now about the appearance of flying wig’s later in the tour.
Perhaps Jessie’s mum knew something we didn’t when telling her to do her hair for the Manchester gig!
