On a lighter note, I wanted to mention here a concert that I recently enjoyed, birthday gift from an old friend who was very thoughtful and correctly guessed this is something that might appeal to me. Yola (real name Yolanda Quartey) is up-and-coming British soul singer who has recently released her very first solo album "Walk Through Fire" and a hit single, glorious "Faraway Look" immediately caught my attention so off we went to "Paradiso" club here in Amsterdam - my very first time there, since apparently I was always visiting other music temples like Koncertgebouw, National Opera House and famous Royal Theater Carré, practically everything but pop-oriented Paradiso and I was pleasantly surprised with its nice atmosphere, acoustics and enthusiastic, unpretentious audience.
Yola is absolutely charming girl - right now she is still at the crossroads, not really a huge superstar so this small, intimate club performance was just perfect to present who she is and what her music identity is. The album, recorded in Nashville, is appealing mix of soul with country influences and audience lapped it up, it looks like locals really love outsized personalities - Yola is definitely one, since she is unabashedly, unrepentantly extrovert girl with playful streak, clearly enjoying the attention and adoration of the public so clearly showering her with affection. This might be the first time that I went to a concert of someone I am not really familiar with - after all we knew just one hit single and "Faraway Look" is actually not really representative of who she is musically - but we both enjoyed the evening immensely, mostly because Yola herself was so happy with response she got from the audience. Her music is a robust combination of soul and country, with endearing chatter between the songs (she seems like a genuine person, kind of friend who just happened to be on a stage under the spotlight) and backing musicians were also very, very good. In fact, this might be the very first time I have seen pedal steel guitar in real life - it has a very recognisable sound and its interesting that the instrument was initially connected with Hawaiian music before it became trademark of American country music.
The energy really build up towards the very end where Yola performed several songs as encore - not her own, but her favourites: its impossible not to love singer who sings "Big Yellow Taxi" and Spanish Harlem" out of sheer joy and love for music. We left Paradiso drenched in sweat and excited, it was excellent evening and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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