Jo Moore at The Troubadour

Jo Moore at The Troubadour

21 May, 2009
by: Mcdean

On my way to review her show at The Troubadour, I bump into Jo Moore standing in the corridor outside. 'I'm too nervous to go in!' she confides, adding 'and this band are really good!' This is only the second gig at which Jo's performed her own material, she tells me, and she's struggling to keep her cool. Ten minutes later, when she takes the stage, you'd have believed she'd been touring for years. Every inch the performer, she radiates such confidence, warmth and energy that within moments she has the entire audience transfixed and fully behind her. 

Modest without being self-deprecating and clearly in love with her art, Jo casts smiles around the room that leave much of the crowd beaming back. This is a true gem of a performance from the minute it begins to the last of the many deafening rounds of applause it raises. Nodding in thanks at the first of these, she notes wryly 'this is my second ever performance of my own stuff, so I'm going to carry on quickly before I lose my cool!' To the still-cheering crowd, chances of this happening seem slim.

Jo's overwhelmingly positive demeanour on stage is infectious. Her songs, while in many cases dealing with heartbreak, express wisdom and resolution rather than defeat. When so many singer-songwriters drag their crowd through the tedium of their unspent sorrow, Jo's art reflects, but lets go and moves on. It's poignant and moving, but constructive to its core. Whatever the artistic merits of this stance, from a listener's perspective, it is far more rewarding than the alternative, and actually encourages rather than brings people down.

Don't get me wrong however – it's not all about love. But even the song about a man who stopped her in Liverpool Street Station and asked if he could buy the shoes she was wearing — the gospel truth, I'm told — is given an unpretentious poignancy. The energy in the room grows more and more positive as the gig progresses, the crowd grows and grows, and when Jo finishes her last song the cry for 'MORE' is unanimous. A true talent and a joy to witness.

Jo will be performing at Bar Rumba this Saturday 23rd May, and at The Portobello Acoustic Sessions at The Metropolitan on 30th July.

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Mcdean