Camille O'Sullivan at the Apollo Theatre

Camille O'Sullivan at the Apollo Theatre

11 December, 2009
by: Hollyw

Dark Angel: Holly Williams reviews Irish chanteuse Camille O'Sullivan's latest show in its biggest venue to date.

Camille O’Sullivan walks on stage in head-to-toe funereal black, all demure lace and long skirts. Song by song, she strips it away, till she’s a wild-haired, sequin-corseted siren, stomping and romping around the stage in her (fishnet) stockinged feet. The audience also warm up along the way – not quite as demonstrably, perhaps, but as the show builds, we’re drawn further into the dark angel’s spell.

She arrives in the West End with plenty of baggage – not just the glittery dresses and drapes that adorn the stage and hang from the ceiling, but also a weight of expectation from a lot of five star rave reviews. It’s easy to see why: her covers breathe new, sultry life into songs by artists including Nick Cave, Tom Waits and David Bowie. They may get a saucy cabaret makeover, a tender and reverential rendition, or a blast through her vocals chords, proving she can reach the rasped vocal intensity of any rock star. It’s all held together by Camille’s fearless stage persona and a bit of cheeky Irish chatter: she looks like she’s having the time of her life up there, slipping in and out of glittery high heels; pulling corks out of wine bottles with her teeth; doing bunny hops around the stage. But when she gets fully involved in a song, moving as if she feels the beat in her bone marrow, it gets more serious. Her singing intensifies until she almost seems to collapse, feverishly.

This is the biggest venue she’s had a run in, and it shows. Her numbers are designed to create intimacy and electricity – but it sometimes struggles to jump out at the Apollo, where the stage/auditorium divide seems uncrossable. The show has a risqué cabaret vibe to it and while this of course is part of the act, it does feel like we’d be better off sitting round little tables in some dark dive, with her weaving around us.

We are some way in before the real tingle-up-the-spine moment arrives – but it’s worth the wait. Camille has an excellent band, but it is the unaccompanied singing and compulsive foot stamping on her solo version of Jacques Brel’s 'Amsterdam' that is particularly thrilling. The choice to round up the first half with a swinging cover of Kirsty McColl’s 'In These Shoes' is a good one too, providing a dose of sheer, sexy fun.

The second half seems to have found its feet, and great tracks come thick and fast. After the slightly cloying ‘Look Mummy, No Hands’, a brilliant cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice’ rises from a folky warble to a full-throated roar, bringing the band with it. A version of Waits’ ‘Misery’ is enjoyably daft, then Bowie’s ‘Five Years’ is delivered with the sort of horse power that recalls Patti Smith. Finally a Cave cover, ‘Ship Song’ ends things beautifully, blending tremor with triumph. Expect to see Camille darkening these doors for years to come.

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Hollyw