It’s the weekend before payday, and the storms and floods have engulfed the country into a miserable grey moan. It would be very easy to hide under a duvet for the night, but no! We intend getting our groove on, and where better than a night of Amy Winehouse in Tripod.

New on the scene, Mainly Winehouse are a 7-piece Dublin outfit that propose to play mainly Amy Winehouse (see what they did there…) but also Motown classics and modern funk. That’s motivation enough for us, we finish off the last glass and we’re off.

After everybody trundles their way in the rain to Tripod on this miserable Saturday night for their late club night, Download, we had the pleasure of waiting almost 2 hours before we were let inside the main auditorium! There is a collective feeling of “This better be worth it…” amongst the crowd but everyone stays upbeat.

Finally, at almost 1am, we are let in. Alabama 3 had been in the venue earlier, so changeover was longer than intended we were assured. It’s not long before the band take the stage, minus their “Amy”, and the speculation begins as to whether this might be too authentic a tribute act, and she won’t turn up at all! The 6 guys look sharp however, dressed in suits and ties, everything in it’s right place so far.

After even more minutes waiting while a sound problem is fixed, eventually the gig gets underway.The set opens with an instrumental version of Coldplay’s “God put a smile on your face”. The horn section is in full flight and the band are off to a solid start; still no sign of our Amy though…and the anticipation builds amongst the swaying hips around me.
Then the “plink-plink” piano intro of Back to Black welcomes Tamara to the stage, donned in a hugging blue retro dress, the Amy look is undeniable. Her voice is both sleek and cutting, the very essence of what a lead singer should have. And, while not a carbon-copy of Amy Winehouse’s style, Tamara sounds right at home in the classic Motown-esque female lead role. The full sound of the band is complete, and the venue starts hotting up.

They continue with a couple of songs from the Back to Black album, and some Motown classics which sound fantastic. “Money” gets the Winehouse treatment, and Gabrielle Cilmi’s “Sweet about me” has virtually every girl in the room swinging on the dance floor.

By 1.30, there is a respectable crowd in the room, but it is undeniable that a lot of people didn’t want to brave the elements tonight to come in. We had a stroll around the other rooms in the club (there’s 5 others!). Each had it’s own mini club happening, but overall it seems quiet everywhere. Good techno, and some house we heard, but we’re back for some more Amy quite quickly.

The last half hour of the Mainly Winehouse set has the crowd in dancing form. Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heatwave” gets an airing, much to the delight of my girlfriends. And the big Winehouse songs like “Rehab”, “You know I’m no good” and “Tears dry on their own” sound absolutely sublime tonight.

The band leave the stage to cheering calls of the ever tedious “One…More…Choon…”, but tonight it seems justified. They’re back out and blast through “Valerie” and the night feels complete. After all, we had guessed it was coming!

Overall, considering the horrible weather and frustrating queuing, the night ends on a real high. It is the Amy Winehouse experience people want, and judging by the real Amy’s relative disappearance lately, it may be some time before we get to see her. This will do nicely in the meantime, thank you very much.

Review by Kim Petrescu

We need to talk about Robbie. Although he is at pains to stress that Reality Killed The Video Star should not be approached as a comeback – the ill fated Rudebox was only released three years ago after all – you cannot escape the fact that much rests on this record for him career wise.The across the board commercial, cultural and critical love that he once enjoyed has been on the wane for some time, with his last release only crystallising the fact. Throw in his personal woes and, unavoidably, the meteoric return of his old colleagues and the real or imagined importance of this album is thrown into sharp focus. More worryingly, the Robbie of old (who would have surely come out fighting) has been notably absent. His live TV appearances have been tentative, he pulled out of the MTV Awards at the last minute and the whole campaign has been pre-empted by an air of self-pity and self-doubt.

Against this backdrop, though, emerged the lead single ‘Bodies’. Initially giving the impression of a third string release off one of his better albums, time has revealed it to be something akin to his glory days. Helmed by the unexpected choice of Trevor Horn, it’s a clever, left-field but catchy pop song that proves that, on his day, Williams is more than capable of showing the new generation a clean pair of heels. The problem is that, as his own lyric promises, Reality Killed The Video Star is “no singles just fillers”.

For an artist who has specialised in an admirable range of styles in the past, to find him on one default setting is a shame. Whereas Rudebox (ironically now being seen more and more as a heroic failure) saw him to pushing the envelope in bizarre directions, Reality... is strings, ballads, introspection, more strings, banal lyrics of pop star woe (“what’s so great about the great depression?”) and a few more strings thrown in for good measure. It is also the one thing that Robbie Williams could never have been accused of in the past. Dull. The subject matter of longing, bitterness and regret have been no stranger to him in the past but have always been matched by an inspired musical backing. Here we just have some miserable bloke and some boring songs, plodding keyboards and, oh yes, those bloody strings.

Ultimately, Robbie Williams has found himself facing the realisation facing most pop stars in the end; that they themselves are of more interest to us than their music. That’s why an appearance on Jonathon Ross’ chat show is more important than the EMAs. We want to know what’s going on in his head but we really don’t want to have to sit through any of his songs to find it out. We don’t have the taste much for it anymore and neither, it seems, does the man himself. “I could give this up, I could walk away, it doesn’t fill me up” he offers towards the end of the record. Where he will walk to remains to be seen. The comfort of Take That? Stranger things have happened, although not many. To settle down and have a family? It certainly seems to be on his agenda. Whatever he does, it would be churlish not to wish him the best and hope that it makes him happy. It has to have better results for him – and us – than this.

Review by Phil Udell | OMG Entertainment | Leading Entertainment Website with Music, Fashion, Games, Films, Food, Drink, Reviews and Culture.