AS TAKE That pack up their multi-million-pound set and wave goodbye to Wearside, there will doubtless be a tear or two shed by their army of North East devotees.
Well dry your eyes pop fans because a certain Scottish dish is en route to sing your troubles away.
Paolo Nutini has chosen Sunderland Empire Theatre as one of the venues to ‘warm up’ in before a summer of big festival performances.
The 24-year-old Paisley-born singer/songwriter will close RockNess Festival in Scotland with a headline set and perform on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, as well as headline the Saturday night at the Latitude festival in July.
But before all that, he’ll be bringing a rather more intimate vibe to the Wearside venue on Saturday night.
Unsurprisingly, given a hectically successful 2010, which saw him bag an Ivor Novello Award for Best Album (Sunny Side Up) and the Q Best Male accolade, as well as being nominated for Best Album and Best Male at the Brit Awards, the gig is a sell-out.
Since arriving on the scene in 2006, Nutini has built a reputation for offering thrilling live performances and now has an impressive back catalogue to back it up.
The multi-platinum-selling debut These Streets as well as the aforementioned Sunny Side Up are packed-to-bursting with crowd pleasers and will doubtless be showcased on stage at the Empire, which is one of only four live performances he’s doing before his festival schedule starts.
And, as fans of his will know, it’s likely to be an eclectic affair.
“Musically where I'm at, I don’t really have a genre or style that I feel a part of,” explains Paolo, talking about Sunny Side Up.
“I skip from Djhango Reinhart to Cab Calloway to Canned Heat. It’s a bit of a random mish mash. I honestly wanted it all to come out, and not harness it, not manipulate it. I just wanted it to be organic, and so immediate it’s in your face and you can’t help but take it all in.”
Having dropped out of school at 16, Paolo pursued singing, roadieing and working as a studio engineer before moving to London and signing with Atlantic Records in 2005.
“With the first album there was a lot of angst. I was very naive. I thought I was on top of the whole thing but I really didn’t know what I was getting into,” he says.
“I felt privileged to be there but I didn’t really know what kind of album I was making.”
After two years on the road, Paolo moved into a residential studio to record the follow up and brought a newfound confidence with him. The result was an album which was almost unfashionably eclectic, but it was welcomed with open ears and platinum-soaked plaudits.
Now his North East fans can look forward to hearing them in the flesh.
Sam Wonfor
Musically where I'm at, I don’t really have a genre or style that I feel a part of. I just wanted it to be organic