Ever since the release of Calvin Harris’ I Created Disco in 2007, the man’s been a hard act to follow. Just as well then that Mr. Hudson (real name Ben) is going first at this double header show.

That’s not to say that he does not fill his allocated slot admirably. Mr. Hudson has an irrefutably solid albeit rather recent fan base, which for the most part seemed to overlap with Mr. Harris’s veteran supporters. But the two have spectacularly differing styles and when epic electronic music meets catchy disco on the same night in the same place in front of the same crowd the conflicting vibrations can often prove troublesome, with the headline act usually winning out.

Not so for Mr. Hudson who, true to his ambitious format, opens the show with ‘White Lies’, warming up the crowd nicely for a swift succession of album tracks, all met with an outward, if tepid, zeal. Though when you consider that Straight No Chaser is Mr. Hudson’s attempt to soundtrack his own tender breakup, the widespread raised arm, paper plane flicking was really the only appropriate physical reaction the crowd could have. But the real magic of the show only comes to life in the last two songs, as his rendition of ‘Forever Young’, recorded with Jay-Z, belatedly brings an O.C generation to their feet, before a spectacular performance of his smash hit collaboration with Kanye West, ‘Supernova’, brings them to their knees.

Visually Hudson had it down; with his 4-piece band clothed in gospel-esque white behind him, though he bounds around in appallingly restrictive black jeans. The man is probably a barren little cherub by now, but by God did he look the part, and for an artist I overhear described as ‘a poor performer of watered-down good music’, I confess to being pleasantly surprised by Mr. Hudson live in every way possible. He looks superb, technically he sounds brilliant, and most impressively of all he excels in warming up for Calvin Harris whilst simultaneously threatening to unwittingly upstage him. Granted, a guest appearance from either one of his stateside collaborators would have gone down a treat, but alone sans-Kanye he still smashes it! The man may never be able to reproduce, but he won’t be skipping around the stage in those skinny jeans as a support artist for long.

Tags: Calvin Harris, HMV Forum, Mr Hudson

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 00:35 and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.