Tommy Reilly Gig Review: Proud, Camden
Scottish Singer Songwriter Displays Raw Talent and Passion
Jan 12, 2009
Suite 101 has been following this year’s Orange Unsigned Act competition with interest for quite some time. Naturally Suite jumped at the chance to see finalist Tommy Reilly performing at Camden’s Proud this week where he strutted his stuff on stage like a man possessed.
Throughout the television competition Tommy has elicited massively favourable comments from judges Alex James, Lauren Laverne and Simon Gavin. An unlikely favourite in the competition, Tommy is a slightly scruffy, average looking kid from Glasgow. But put him on stage and he’s transformed.
Fun, Friendly Force of Musical Nature
Tommy off-stage is the pure definition of fun. He sounds like he's permanently a little bit drunk, and Suite 101 would be willing to bet money on the fact he was probably the scruffy little kid who was the unlikely class comedian at school. He’s endlessly friendly too, full of high-fives and generous with his time. A chatty, easy going, intensely likeable guy who is painfully modest, very humble and so accidentally funny sometimes that it’s impossible not to laugh.
On stage he's like a conduit for some innate force of musical nature that can only escape if he contorts himself into weird positions on stage. He goes up on tip toes to reach the power notes, slaps his belly or his leg every now and then, hunches over his guitar when he's concentrating. It's bizarre. For all that fellow finalist Toby Sebastian is technically amazing, Tommy is passion.
A True Scottish Artist
Tommy came on stage following a high energy indie / ska sextet King and Country, and a lacklustre drone from some other group that was instantly forgettable. The crowd was attentive, eager and, above all, curious: what does this unassuming Glasweigan have that is creating such a buzz on Channel 4’s T4 on Sundays?
Performing all the favourites that have seen him through to the Orange Unsigned Act Final, including ‘I Don’t Like Coffee’, ‘Jackets’ and ‘Gimme a Call’, it was refreshing to hear Tommy’s Scottish origin in his singing voice. So often British bands end up singing like American wannabes, but anyone could now pull off a decent Tommy Reilly impression by singing the now famous lines “Gimme a call / You got a phone don’t you? / Turn it on / I need to hear from you” in a gorgeous Glasweigan twang.
Unrequited Love, Scottish Style
Tommy looked consistently amazed to find himself on stage. He scratched his head and patted his pockets to find his set list as he joked with the crowd: “I don’t really know what I’m doing” he admitted, “where we going after this? Is anyone going to a house party?”
With several offers put forward from the avid listeners at the front of the stage, Tommy happily launched into ‘Gimme a Call’, the track with is possibly becoming his signature tune. Not only does the track feature those humble, unabashed lyrics of a teenager longing to ‘get the girl’ (unrequited love, Scottish style), but the raw passion of the track comes through in Tommy’s straining desperate vocal, the strangely addictive thickly strummed melody and the manic fast-strummed climax.
Perhaps what is the best thing about this undoubtedly talented 19 year old is the utter lack of pretension and polish. Tommy’s act is gloriously messy, unfinished, and raw, but it is exactly that which allows him to convey something more primal in the music itself. His utter commitment to his songs is awe-inspiring in a way that his fellow finalists, for all their uniquely different strengths, can only dream of.
Tommy Reilly Album 2009
Tommy told Suite about his heart being set on making an album this year, with or without the competition’s prize of a record deal with major label Universal. If that’s the case, 2009 will no doubt be Tommy’s year.
Watch Tommy’s progress in the final live shows of Orange Unsigned Act on Sundays throughout January. He faces Bo Bruce, Toby Sebastian, Hip Parade and now Birmingham punk-steppers the Scarlet Harlots who made it through on a wildcard following their performance on the show today.
Read more about Tommy Reilly in these exclusive interviews:
Find out about Tommy’s thoughts on the super-cool Alex James and his Britpop beginnings
Find out what it’s like backstage at Orange Unsigned Act
Or check out Tommy's fellow Glasweigan finalists, and competition runners up Hip Parade, and what they had to say about Tommy.
Or see all Suite 101's articles and exclusive backstage interviews from Orange Unsigned Act.
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