Jack Savoretti at Hammersmith Apollo

A mere fortnight after the release of his fifth studio album, Sleep No More, Jack Savoretti proudly delivered an uplifting, gypsy-flavoured country-pop sound to the good people of the Hammersmith  Apollo in his “biggest headline show to date” – the last of a ten-date UK tour. Fortune has certainly smiled upon the musician since his dire debut on the scene, involving legal troubles with a record label and substance abuse.

The night started off smoothly with a haunting spaghetti western whistle from the man himself, as fog enveloped the stage and the band stepped in to accompany Savoretti’s confident strumming and husky voice. They shifted into top gear early on with the third track – an energetic performance of We Are Bound with a somewhat tasteless hint of dubstep in the final chorus.

When the star of the show put his guitar down for Lullaby Loving, the other musicians stepped up their game while still leaving him space to perform. The flamenco-inspired arrangement, featuring keyboard player Henry Bowers-Broadbent on accordion and some inspired conga-playing from drummer Jesper Lind, was a musically rich interpretation of the original, accompanied by fiery orange lighting piercing theatrically through layers of smoke.

The set list mainly contained songs from Savoretti’s most recent release, but the singer-songwriter did not neglect older hits such as Home, which had the crowd singing along enthusiastically, and Dreamers off his first album. He let the band take a breather for that one, and shared an intimate moment with his fans, who had been with him from the very beginning.

While Savoretti was assuredly present throughout the show, he and the boys really started having fun towards the end. Kicking off with a rousing rendition of Any Other Way, they lapsed into a good 15 minutes of energetic country and rock tunes, with bassist John Bird and guitarist Pedro Vito joining the singer in the middle of the stage and displaying genuine chemistry.

Touches of humour like “the guy who wrote Baa Baa Black Sheep was a fucking genius” enabled the charming, relatable Anglo-Italian to appeal to an audience composed mostly of couples of all ages – he certainly seemed to get the ladies in the mood.

The artist made sure to experiment with novel arrangements, searching for a slightly different sound as opposed to churning out a copy of the albums. Although a few musical decisions were hit-or-miss at times, the intentions were sincere. Overall, last night’s event at the renowned Hammersmith venue went down well with a fawning crowd.

Jennifer Sanin

For further information about Jack Savoretti and future events visit here.

Watch the video for Home here: