LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: Mimi Webb I Blake Rose I Henry Moodie @ LCR UEA, Norwich
01/04/23
Arriving at the LRC I was greeted by the longest queue I've ever seen for a gig there, twisting right round to the main university road. Standing in line amongst an array of scantily clad girls who could barely have had an average age of 18 along with a few parents chaperoning those even younger, I have never felt more out of place in my life. I indulged in some Devildriver as if to reassure myself I'd not suddenly started liking pop music.
After 30 minutes of queuing I finally got in and was greeted by a sea of mainly female faces with the odd underwhelmed bloke who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else.
Henry Moodie was already on so a frantic dash to organise cameras and get in the photo pit ensured. His sound was okay, not unpleasant but rather generic. Sappy love songs aren't really my thing and while listenable I found it all a bit middle of the road. The audience enjoyed a singalong to his Taylor Swift cover but that too left me feeling very meh. He has a tuneful enough voice but his sound lacked any real originality.
Next up was Blake Rose who was a nice surprise. Much heavier, full band sound than I expected from any of the acts with a nice amount of rockstar attitude. His style slotted neatly into the grey area between pop and rock fans. Accessible enough that a crowd of Mimi Webb fans could enjoy but raucous enough someone who proclaims to only like guitar music could get on board with it too. Lyrically fairly whimsical his words did occasionally offer some angst and deeper impact. Overall I enjoyed Blake and would definitely check-out his music again.
Finally on to Mimi Webb who was fashionably late to her own party. To commence a recorded message plays to beam positivity, to the young, impressionable audience which I thought was a nice touch. Her guitarist takes to the stage to show her skills and strikes some killer poses before Mimi appears adorned in a pink metallic PVC three piece suit. Firing straight into her set I was surprised how heavy her sound was live. I expected pure pop and choreographed dance routines but instead it was vibrant energy and power stances. I do wonder if the crowd were ready for the sound to be quite so loud.
22 year old Mimi, who writes her own lyrics, comes across as wise beyond her years with words confessing relationship struggles and battles through dark times in her life. While her stage presence is powerful yet friendly and personable, she seems like a down to earth lady who's grateful for what she's achieved. Humble and authentic.
I can't say her music is necessarily for me, then I don't think it's really aimed at me either but it was a nice change from my usual style of gig and a welcome surprise. While I'll not be rushing out to purchase her back catalogue anytime soon I would be very happy to go and watch her live again. I enjoy a performer who can own the stage and work the room and Mimi’s dynamic presence did that with ease.
The sold out crowd were giddy with excitement at watching their idol, singing every word and very obviously loving every second, which is the most important thing!
