Tom Odell

As he ascends the Limelight 1 stage like a rockstar, expecting and receiving female shrieks and tossing his yellow mane, it seem Tom Odell doesn’t realize he plays piano – that drawing room safe haven of shy guys and public school boys whose parents thought that guitar-playing teens were all a bad element.

As he kicks off with a rootin’ tootin’ version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35′, the cry of “Everybody must get stoned” is a shot in the arm for any audience member expecting a subdued, heartbroken piano recital and proving he isn’t always sad.

‘Can’t Pretend’ follows though, showing he can’t be happy for long, clinging to the microphone stand as if his tragic – for this song, at least – life depended on it. Haunting male supporting vocals hover in the background bringing to mind the sad masculine gospel of Cold War Kids while a rock injection halfway through the song – a formula used halfway through all his slower songs incidentally – make them almost Muse-like, the powerful noise and charisma emanating from the stage making it obvious that even if these guys aren’t in a stadium, they’re going to pretend that they are.

And so the set swings between two extremes, honky-tonk rhythm ’n’ blues with the occasional Jerry Lee Lewis piano-pounding and raucous voice purring sexual innuendo, contrasting with ‘Stay Tonight’ where Odell plumbs the depths of Jeff Buckley despair, unafraid to let the audience hear the emotion break in his voice.

It’s not so chalk and cheese beneath the surface though, a little spark of attitude gleaming in him even when he’s singing about being at his most broken.

Sixties rock ‘n’ roll is clearly a big influence for him, a cover of Beatles ‘Oh Darling’ not a million miles away from his highest charting single, ‘Hold Me’: Keane chord progressions mixed with a ‘Hey Jude’ of a chorus making it a modern torch song, the odd lighter being raised into the air near the stage.

He is however, very much a beginner: the 40-minute set feeling dramatically short. Until you realise he simply may not have any more material, an assumption strengthened by the fact that the encore is incredibly short and sweet at one song.

Still, this lad, caught between two worlds, shows promise. Previous expectations formed by released material aside, the audience themselves aren’t even sure which side he should pick. We just hope he chooses the right one.

Tom Odell played the Limelight 1 on Saturday 06 April.

By Elizabeth McGeown