Emeli Sandé Live at Club Nokia

L.A. Live, located in the heart of the self-styled "Entertainment Capital" of the States - where apparently all the roads (and Freeways, apparently) lead… Literally so it would appear given the grid-lock last Saturday evening as both 101 and 110 Freeways as well as surface streets metamorphosed into car parks…

While the masses may have been descending on the Staples Center to see One Bleedin' Direction (FFS Why???), and those more steeped in Latin American culture were there for Brazilian Diva Ivete Sangalo; a couple of thousand-or-so of us were heading to the Nokia Theater's hipster off-sprog, Club Nokia, to catch Scottish R&B sensation, Emeli Sandé.

Now if the chattering classes and Guardianistas of the world are to be believed, back in Blighty the Emeli Sandé backlash is in full swing as apparent "over-exposure" fatigue sets in (although with her debut album "Our Version of Events" having gone triple-platinum, I suspect she's not that bothered).

Now I'm as cynical and jaundiced as the next Brit, but even I'm a little taken aback. Seriously, this woman has the most amazing set of tonsils and for such a diminutive frame can sure as hell belt out an intelligent tune. The fact that she's probably written it as well should be another string to her bow.

For the record, I'm a bit of an aficionado. This was after all the third time that I've been fortunate to catch her live here in L.A. The first time was at a - it has to be said - sparsely populated El Rey Theatre, one of a handful of gigs to promote the aforementioned massive-selling album (although why the record hadn't been released to coincide with the gig is one for her label's marketing department to explain). Backed by only a three-piece ensemble, this was an intimate, almost nervy gig, with every song - a la Billy Bragg - introduced via an anecdote or story. But there was this voice and more than a handful of quality heart-felt soulful ballads and up-tempo R&B songs…

A few months later she was back at the El Rey again. This time with a full blown backing band, a lot more stage confidence (illustrated by some stunning reinterpretations of some of the album's tracks), with a venue packed to the rafters and a crowd begging for more…

So far,it's probably fair to say that here she's been preaching to the converted; but the States - with it's Ghettoised radio station formats and formalistic by-the-numbers playlists ("bland", "safe" and er "shite" spring to mind…), it's a little bit harder to crack the collective conscious. Tonight would be a big test, the start of her first major US tour... How would she fare?

And the girl cracked it...

From the moment she bounced on the stage topped and tailed with her trade-marked white Mohawk and trainers plonked herself down at a piano and struck up the first few chords of "Daddy"; starting off as a soulful lament before raising it a notch - and with the able assistance of her backing of the band - turning it on a rousing bluesy crescendo that segued directly into an up-beat version of "Heaven", the crowd were hers.

I'd mentioned earlier that one of her gifts seems to be the ease at which she can reinterpret her songs, so "Where I sleep", morphs into a thumping lovers-rock tune while "Breaking the law" gets the up-tempo treatment. By now everyone up in the seats were on their feet (moi? I'm standing in the "general admission area", somewhere close to, but tantalisingly far from the forbidden zone of the VIP wrist band area. I'd call it the "Mosh Pit", but I don't think Emeli Sandé quite does mosh pits…)  

But boy, can she also do ballads, real proper ballads. The heart-breaking "Suitcase" is delivered with just bass guitar accompaniment to a hushed, attentive audience who listen on every word of what is an incredibly harrowing song about a break-up and it's immediate aftermath. You could have heard a pin drop…

By now the crowd is in the palm of her hands - and it's not as if Emeli Sandé is a seasoned professional… It's more the way she seems so at ease and forms a naturally rapport with the audience. It helps that she appears to be really enjoy being up on stage (I also have to add that having met her post-gig at the El Rey, I can also vouch for the fact that she's a genuinely nice person).

As the evening progresses we're treated to interpretations of her collaborations with the artists who have given her a helping hand up the ladder; Labyrinth ("Your beautiful"), Professor Green ("Read all about it (Part III)") and Naughty Boy ("Lifted"), before closing  with a pumping rendition of another Naughty Boy collaboration with "Wonder".

The gig finished with an encore of the uplifting "May be" and the anthemistic "Next to me", although if she'd turn around and repeated the whole set again I doubt there would have been one dissenting voice.

If the key to a successful gig is always leaving crowd wanting more, then this was a nailed on roaring success. This was one of those gigs where the crowd wanted her, willed her to be fantastic… She was… You get the impression that a few more nights like this and Emeli Sandé may well indeed crack the States…