Macy Gray - Live Music Review in Bristol

Posted on: 2017-03-20

Our rating:

Macy Gray was, without a doubt, a fantastic closure to Bristol’s Jazz and Blues Festival and the crowd left with looks of extreme satisfaction on their faces. We want her back in our city soon.


Every now and then, a gig that is so utterly special comes along that you just know it will be etched in your mind forever and that’s what happened last night when multi award-winning Macy Gray took to the Colston Hall’s stage in Bristol.

 

From the moment this multi-platinum selling singer entered the concert hall in her long black dress and vibrantly ruffled red scarf, she shone like the true star she is as she headed into the first track of the night called Relating to a Psychopath.

Macy Gray - Live Music Review in Bristol

Accompanying Macy were her personally hand selected four band members in smart cream suits. The fact that they have all individually been performing alongside Macy for several years was really obvious as they complemented her every move during the whole gig. The appreciative crowd were treated to the merged sounds of drums, bass, keyboards - and a saxophone so smooth you could feel it in your bones.

 

Before Macy launched into her second song of the set, the hit Why Didn’t You Call Me? From her debut studio album On How Life Is, she told us: “Since we’re all here together, we might as well dance together. So come on, let’s sway. People of Bristol really know how to party on a Sunday night, we heard that you scream really loudly.”

Macy Gray - Live Music at Colston Hall in Bristol

Her interaction throughout the 90 minute set was fantastically comical, with her saying such things as: “Google said that the males of Bristol are the sexiest, most intelligent and buff men in the whole wide world. Google also said that the women of Bristol have the greatest vaginas in the whole wide world. It says all this other stuff too – like how well you women dress and how well you do your make up. So John our saxophonist said we have to go to Bristol. And that’s why we’re here tonight.” That got a huge amount of laughs and cheers and seemed to be the point where the audience started to let themselves go more and really get into the spirit of the night.

 

Hearing a cross section of Macy’s music, it’s so obvious why she made it to the big time and has been around for a while. We heard Caligula, also from her debut album, and something off her recent 2016 jazz-infused album Stripped called Annabelle. We also heard a cover of Radiohead’s Creep that was so epic and unexpected, it got one of the biggest applauses of the night. Macy’s raspy tones made this song so chilling to listen to that it was undeniably hypnotic to the ears.

Macy Gray - Live Music at Colston Hall in Bristol - Review

Throughout the gig, it felt like you got a real sense of Macy’s personality as she threw constant comments out to the receptive audience, which really added to the magical feel of the night.

 

A brief exit from the stage for a dress change, saw Macy (born Natalie Renée McIntyre) come back on to perform several more outstanding tunes including She Ain’t Right For You which had a slight reggae feel to it. This was where more and more people got out of their seats and started dancing, because the beat was so infectious that sitting down didn’t feel like a good option.

 

Macy went on to tell us: “Some people say freedom is the most important thing in life. We can dance when we want to dance and scream when we want to scream. And we’ve come all the way from New York, Israel, Mississippi and Memphis just to be with you on a Sunday night.” A truly privileged audience responded with a sincere cheer.

Macy Gray

Towards the end of the set, we got to hear a new arrangement of her memorable hit I Try and there were a few more covers including Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? By Rod Stewart and Everything’s Gonna Be Alright by the legend that is Bob Marley. But the ultimate finale, where we were told to sing and dance with Macy one more time, was a cover of My Way by Frank Sinatra. Hardly anyone could pull that one off, but Macy did and she did it with gusto.

 

Macy Gray was, without a doubt, a fantastic closure to Bristol’s Jazz and Blues Festival and the crowd left with looks of extreme satisfaction on their faces. We want her back in our city soon.

5/5



Article by:

Kelly Jobanputra

Kelly worked as a journalist for the BBC for 12 years before she changed careers and went into the field of marketing. Having worked at BBC 6 Music for several years, she is passionate about many different genres of sound. Her other interests include theatre, comedy, books, food and days out with the family (she has a young daughter who she describes as a "whirlwind of fun.") Kelly is married to Vik who is a true Bristolian to the core! She is also studying nutritional therapy.