The Hud is Back In Town
It’s a rainy Tuesday night in London (oh joy). And while the brisk winds and sharp chill have kept most streets of the city dormant, there’s one spot that’s popping off regardless: Scala, King’s Cross and the Sold Out Mr Hudson gig is bustling with pub geezers, industry folk, die hard Hudson fans and curious, not-quite-sure-who-he-is spectators.
Mr. Hudon’s a Londoner at heart, Brummie by birth, but has recently been knocking about in the U.S doing everyday stuff like, y’know, being signed to Kanye West’s label G.O.O.D Music, and setting himself up as THE one to watch in ’09. He burst on to the seen as the lead singer of Mr. Hudson & The Library in 2007 with a successful group effort A Tale Of Two Cities. Fast Forward 2009, he’s got a solo joint in the pipeline and a guest spot on Jay Z’s Blueprint 3 album. Not a shabby start to a music career.
So, back to Scala. After a self-assured, charged set my Canadian songstress Melanie Fiona (bonafide hottie, I might add) and her soultry rendition of Kanye’s “Heartless” including her own radio-friendly tunes, the Hud’ is up.
The lights are down and out comes what appears to be Mr. Hudson, with an air of enigma, he creeps out, shadowed by the overcast of the grey hoodie he’s rocking (complete with white skull on the back). The guy behind me scorns,”who the ‘ell’s that? Eminem?” Ok, it’s a different look, but any questions of whether he’s about to drop 16 bars go out the window as soon as he opens his mouth and that delicious, resounding voice of his belts out new track, “Get Back To London” (guess title) as he befittingly chimes, “They say boy, you’ve changes, I say well you’ve changed too”.
And we have. The music industry has. And people like Mr. Hudson only further prove that music can be whatever we want it to. And with this all embracive ethos of genre/era mashup vibes, he kicks off with some new tracks, get the surprises out of the way early.
This change comes in the form of 80′s inspired productions, heavy bass lines, slightly 808′s reminiscent, but instantly loveable jams. Some don’t agree. A drunken sod of a heckler yells, “That was a disgrace” following Hudson’s second new track off the pending Straight No Chaser solo album. “I love you too” retorts Hudson, pacing around before letting us no how much he really does love London, and all of us. He seems to have a lot to prove and though the solo sounds he’s performed far have gone down well with the majority, there’s a slight air of awkwardness now.
Enter “Supernova”, a delightful track guaranteed to make juices excrete from every hole in your body (too much?). And the crowd roared. I wish I could describe the sound, but I zoned out entirely. At this point Hudson strips himself of the hoodie and he’s back to his old self, stripey tee and guitar strap, just getting comfortable.
He belts as percussionist/backing singer/bad gyal steel pan player Joy Jones accompanies him with her piercing keys and captivating presence. Meanwhile the band, in fully supportive mode, rifts and carries each track. The sound is impeccable and though everything’s working like magic, it’s him, Ben Hudson and that voice that just resonates across the room over our heads, that really amazes, damn, no wonder he gets so much love. He continues with hits off the Tale Of Two Cities album, turning up the vibe with Ask The DJ and when “Too Late”, and “One Specific Thing” kick in, each complete with thumpin’ bass and piercing steel pans, the crowd erupts and the die hards and lapping it up; all hands raised. ”There Will Be Tears”, a song from his forth coming solo album comes in and it’s nothing short of beautifully emotive. He feels it, we dig it and the silence in the room certifies it. At one point Hud’ jokes “Be careful with autotune, it’s a tool not a toy’ oh and don’t we know it, mate, but with this, it just works.
The electrifying set winds to an end with the mesmerising “Upon The Heath”. He reminds us there’s an after-bash he’s throwing “we’ll all fit in there somehow”, he promises. By the end, it’s clear that maybe he has gone a little Yankee, experimentalist on us, but this Brum kid’s still got love for London.
Words By: Felicia
First picture courtesy of Leon
