Raye feels the need to transform the stage into a New York jazz bar. The decor of Down The Rabbit Hole didn’t seem suitable for this earlier this month, but the North Sea Jazz Festival is – perhaps not surprisingly – a bit more appropriate for this. She travels in the Nile through a tormented life full of heartbreak, addictions and abuse with a voice that grabs you by the throat.
Photography Dimitri Heels
She already warns the audience: ‘I’m a drama queen!’ She doesn’t just mean the textual content of her music, but also the tail that each song gets. For example, during the final part of Mary Jane she sits on the floor, while she meanders with vocal feats that would irritate you with an average singer. However, the English singer is not here for a dutiful karaoke session.
Raye likes to talk her songs together. She shows herself feminine, open and vulnerable. This creates contrasts between her speaking moments and singing, because on the one hand she seems almost embarrassed to be allowed to stand on such an iconic stage, but sings as if she knows full well that she belongs there.
She looks apologetically at her guitarist. He has been strumming the same line for minutes, but a grin and a nod tell her enough: I can continue for a while. In this way, every third act actually becomes the center. This forms the impression we get of Raye as an artist; not someone who simply loves to sing, but who perhaps needs it. All the pent-up emotions form a cannonball in her stomach, which her voice, the cannon, shoots out explosively.
The reactions seem to be divided. Some people may find it a bit too dramatic and walk away in a tense mood. ‘She has a beautiful voice, but…’, you hear someone say before he disappears into the audience. The fact that the Nile is packed is symbolic of the high scores Raye made last year with the incredibly successful album My 21st Century Blues and won no less than six BRIT Awards. A record win.
Most people remain standing. Some become fans on the spot, including a man who jumps up and down with waving hands and repeatedly professes his love for Raye. ‘You’re a legend, Mike from Amsterdam!’ the British singer responds following a sympathetic chat.
Raye reminds me of Amy Winehouse in some ways. Not so much in the sound of her voice, but in a tormented existence that seeks its expression in whatever way. When it comes out musically, it is not only a blessing for the artist himself, but also for the audience that gets to see it, because just as Winehouse was a very big artist, Raye can absolutely achieve star status.
Seen: North Sea Jazz 2024, Friday (11:00 PM) in the Nile.
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