Singer-Songwriters are everywhere. Everyone has, at somepoint in their life dreamt of being able to pick up a guitar, strum away and pull that girl or guy with an amazing song, or leading thousands of people in a singalong. Very few actually manage to make a career out of it. Even fewer are actually good, all round musicians and entertainers. Tom McRae is one of this rare and dying species, and I caught him last night at Bristol’s O2 Academy.

I’ve caught Tom a few times before, having been enchanted by him on the Hotel Cafe tour around the UK, where he was funny, entertaining and above all had some gut-wrenching songs that I so loved. We’re not talking the usual tales of failed relationships, oh no, we’re talking death, decay and pain of the nth degree. Yet somehow you leave a Tom McRae show feeling optimistic, positive even, despite the mass sing alongs of “It’s the end of the world…” (in old favourite ‘End Of The World News (Dose Me Up)’).

With his dry sense of humour, Tom observed that his (surprisingly excellent) cover of Rihanna’s Umbrella (which he referred to as his “Tombrella”) got bigger cheers than any of his other songs so far, asking the audience to send in ideas for other merchandise (so far they’ve had a McRadio (that only plays bad news), McRaybans (that always give the darker side of life) and the Tombrella (that lets you have the shade even on the sunniest day)).

Acknowledging fully that commercial success has largely eluded him, he takes pimping his merchandise to a whole new level, past shameful and back around to highly amusing, flogging tea towels, posters and CDs like there’s no tomorrow. If Tom ever gives up the music biz there is most likely a job going for him as a comedian – his tales about touring around the UK (“I only remember doing Leeds Girls Grammar School on that tour…”) and comparing releasing singles to being like raising Orang-utans (don’t ask, you probably had to be there to understand) are both hilarious and a great respite from the melancholy of his tracks..

Opening the set with some songs of his new album, The Alphabet of Hurricanes, I will admit I was concerned that, at 40, he’d gone all “rock” on us in a mid life crisis, however you quickly realise that lyrical content is still the same sort of stuff. I personally far prefer his earlier three albums, however the songs from his latest two (“King of Cards” and “Alphabet of Hurricanes”) are by no stretch “go to the bar” / “talk to a mate” / “go to the loo” material – they’re just as valid set additions. I’m a fan of the sadder tales, the melancholy and the woe, but that might just be due to other issues in my life at the moment. Songs like ‘Walking to Hawaii’, ‘Hidden Camera Show’, ‘My Vampire Heart’ and ‘End Of The World News (Dose Me Up)’ never get old, songs that I’ve grown up with and will always treasure.

Opening up was Texan Brian Wright who also plays guitar supporting Tom, and his set was a strong set of guitar tales, which would be ace if only we had a camp fire to sit around and a few less idiots talking through the whole set.

Tom McRae’s tour finishes tonight at London’s Scala, which is sold out, before Tom hits Europe for a few weeks of shows. If you get a chance, make sure you catch the talented Essex troubadour somewhere in the future – trust me, it’ll be one of the best shows of your life, and if it’s not I’ll pay for your ticket. Can’t say fairer than that, eh?

Read our interview with Tom McRae here.

Quality Singer / Songwriters are a rare breed – for me only three are worth your hard earned money – Ben Folds, Joshua Radin and the wonderful former Mercury nominee Tom McRae. He’s got a new album coming out in February, which is sure to be a fantastic collection of melancholy and stories, so put on your PJs, snuggle up in your favourite chair, pop on an album (I’d reccomend his self-titled debut), and read our interview with Tom….

Hello Tom. What are you up to today?

Packing up my studio, moving out of my house, and getting ready to go on tour.

Your new album is set to come out next month – what’s been the underlying theme / idea behind it? Has it been an easy album to make?

Like all the other albums it’s a collection of chapters of my life over the previous few years, wrapped up in a few minor chords. The hurricane theme seemed to reflect the turbulence of the last few years, but it’s calmer now. Maybe it’s the eye of the storm. It was the easiest album to make, out of necessity. I played, engineered, recorded and mixed most things myself. I was a joy to work with.

You were one of the key people that bought the Hotel Cafe tour to the UK and Europe – the two times the tour came are possibly my favourite gigs ever, such energy, such talent. Are there any more plans to bring the tour back to the UK? I’d imagine it’s a small nightmare to co-ordinate?!
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Quite possibly one of the nicest and most genuine singer/songwriters in the land, Mr. Tom McRae has announced a string of UK tour dates for September and October around the UK and Ireland as part of a bigger European tour, called the “Alphabet of Hurricanes Tour”.

I’ve caught him live three times (in London each time), and he’s an amusing performer that provides a bit of lightness between his dark and brooding songs. Looks like it’s going to be a brilliant (if dark) Autumn, with new albums from Tom, The National and Tegan and Sara.

I don’t know when tickets go on sale, but expect it will be very soon.

Monday 21st September 2009 – Brighton Concorde 2
Tuesday 22nd September 2009 – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Wednesday 23rd September 2009 – Bristol O2 Academy
Friday 25th September 2009 – Oxford O2 Academy 2
Saturday 26th September 2009 – Liverpool Academy 2
Sunday 27th September 2009 – Manchester Club Academy
Monday 28th September 2009 – Leeds The Brudenell Social Club
Wednesday 30th September 2009 – Glasgow King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
Thursday 1st October 2009 – Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
Friday 2nd October 2009 – Newcastle Academy 2
Saturday 3rd October 2009 – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Monday 5th October 2009 – Birmingham Glee Club
Tuesday 6th October 2009 – Cambridge Junction
Thursday 8th October 2009 – London Scala
Saturday 10th October 2009 – Belfast Spring & Airbrake
Sunday 11th October 2009 – Dublin The Academy 2
Monday 12th October 2009 – Cork Cyprus Avenue
Tuesday 13th October 2009 – Galway Roisin Dubh
Wednesday 14th October 2009 – Limerick Dolans Warehouse
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10. Idlewild at London’s ULU (3rd July)
First time catching the indie rockers, blown away. So much so that I caught them again in Bristol just a month later, they were that good. They showed just how they’ve managed to be so successful for the past decade, with energy and great songs.

9. I’m From Barcelona at London Scala (25th November)
I know I said I’d write a review and then didn’t, but things were kinda hectic with university stuff at the time. Still, I’m From Barcelona provided one of the best nights of entertainment I’ve had in a while – chaotic, crazy, they had so much energy I was finding bits of ticker tape for days after.

8. Bloc Party at London’s Apple Store (10th October)
My second Bloc Party experience of the year, hot and sweaty in the Apple Store. I was expecting a bland, boring performance but we got anything but – chaotic, Kele was on top form, crawling over the crowd, standing all over the place. I’d hate to have had the job of cleaning up the next morning!

7. Friendly Fires at Oxford Zodiac (5th October)
My second time seeing Friendly Fires, they were even more intense than the first time. Loud, energetic, and slightly chaotic – we forgot it was Sunday night and danced like it was 3am. Just immense. Watch them become huge in 209.

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“These shows are always far too short” moaned Tom McRae as he brought down the curtains on almost 3 hours of non-stop music that, frankly, would put most lesser artists to shame. In those 3 hours, we’d seen beard shaving, mass-singalongs, surprise special guests and more off-the-cuff jokes than most comedians manage in a year. All for a mere £15 too.

This was the second time that the Essex-based singer/songwriter had bought over his motley crew of artists from the US to play the Hotel Cafe tour, named after the famous venue in LA which plays host to a range of a wide range of artists for a cabaret-like performance where anything can happen. As they showed, anything really can happen when they decided to shave the beard of lead organiser Jason, live on stage towards the end.

Each playing one or two songs, Tom introduced each one with amusing tales, and before 9:30 had even swung round we’d already hurtled through three Tom McRae songs as well as songs from Catherine Feeny, Brian Wright, Jim Bianco, Cary Brothers, and Greg Laswell. Poor Greg hobbled around after spraining his ankle in Brighton whilst drunkenly chasing a fox, much to the amusement of the audience.

Part of the tradition of the Hotel Cafe shows are special guests – two years ago we got Aqualung, this time round Turin Brakes played previous single “Dark on Fire” and old favourite “Pain Killer”.

Tom then came back, joined by the rest of the performers for a rousing version of “Dose me Up”, which was quite amazing to hear everyone looping round the haunting chorus of “So dose me up / Once is not enough / I can still see the ground / And from this high rise view looking down on you / Im not the one wasting my time”. Personally, that was my highlight, but with time getting on the performers got back into the swing of things with renewed passion – Jim Bianco’s “striptease” routine provided a moment of amusement as his “smoky backroom” voice fitted the setting perfectly. Greg told us stories of his family, with tales of his Mum and Dad’s worries about him, and Catherine just played amazing songs whilst adding a sexy element to the male-dominated proceedings. Brian, well, what more can I say. The man can play. And has facial hair that would make lesser men weap, it’s so thick. Cary Brothers was the musical genius that needs more credit – amazing songs, he should be able to tour the UK more.

All too soon 11:30 had rolled around, and with one more sing along to “Silent Boulevard”, they were gone – too quickly for my liking, but still – £15 for 3 hours of brilliant entertainment – amazing.

After the jump: A video of Cary Brother’s “Ride” and pictures. If you want large versions of any of the pictures, just yell and I can sort that out for you

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Already a shoe-in for me for gig of 2008, Tom McRae has announced that he’s bringing the artistes of Hotel Cafe to the UK once again in April. The Essex singer-songwriter did it in 2006, and is coming back to play bigger venues, more dates, with more stars from the legendary Los Angeles venue. Catherine Feeny, Brian Wright, Jim Bianco, Cary Brothers, and Greg Laswell are all playing the shows, along with the usual cast of “extras”, special guests and big name stars.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £15 each. There are two London shows, but at the moment the second one hasn’t been put on sale yet, and I’m not sure when it will be. Catch me down the front at the first London date.

Thursday 17th April - Ireland (venue to be confirmed)
Friday 18th April – Ireland (venue to be confirmed)
Sunday 20th April – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Monday 21st April – Leeds, Cockpit
Tuesday 22nd April – Manchester Club Academy
Thursday 24th April – Glasgow, Oran Mor
Friday 25th April – Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire,
Saturday 26th April – Birmingham Barfly,
Monday 28th April – Bristol Thekla
Tuesday 29th April – Brighton, Concorde 2
Wednesday 30th April – London Kings College
Saturday 17th May – London Kings College

This post is also available on Londonist. Pictures and video after the jump.

“One broken collar bone, one sprained ankle and a severe case of man-flu – that’s the toll of a three week UK tour” joked Tom McRae as he chatted with the crowd at last night’s tour finale at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire. Taking the audience on a journey through his past three albums and his most recent, King of Cards, he manages to play all the old favourites and a few new ones.

Opening up was the marvellous Steve Reynolds, who had a broken collar bone, done whilst playing football – Tom later commented “I can still hear that crack in my head now… it was horrible!” Clearly in agony, he even so managed to romp through some crowd pleasers and some new material, all of which was absolutely amazing. He managed to restrain himself from berating an incredibly noisy audience, even though he clearly wanted to.

A few minutes later and the guy we’d all been waiting for, Tom McRae comes on stage, explaining that he has man flu, which is apparently a million times worse than a broken collar bone (said jokingly). To warm his voice up, we got three (presumably) untitled new songs before he broke into the better known ones.

In between songs his banter with the audience was amusing as ever, with Tom discussing the Sun’s review of his new album (“They accused me of dumbing down with a “pop” sound that’s “happier” than before… you know things are bad when the Sun says you’re dumbing down. So here’s a happy one from my new album!” before launching into “Got a Suitcase, Got Regrets, perhaps one of the darker songs on the new album ironically.)

Old favourites “My Vampire Heart”, “Walk to Hawaii” and “Dose Me Up” all got airings, greated like old friends. One of the biggest cheers of the night was reserved for when Tom promised to bring the Hotel Café tour back to the UK early next year – one of my highlights of last year musically, and a great idea.

However, the best was yet to come. Coming back for his encore, Tom unplugged his guitar, and Ollie the keyboardist grabbed an accordion for a sensational rendition of “Bloodless”, with Tom singing without any amplification, and audience sing alongs galore. It was short and to the point, but decidedly poignant with everyone singing and the full meaning of the song just hitting everyone full-on.

When he finished this, there was only one way to go, with the song everyone had been shouting from the start – “Boy With The Bubblegum”. Simple, yet oh so effective, it brought the whole evening to a close in perfect style.

Tom McRae – one of our nation’s best kept secrets?

After the jump, catch larger pictures and also a video of Bloodless live.

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Tom McRae’s fourth studio album, “King of Cards” is launched tomorrow here in the UK, and its one of his most accomplished works to date. I got a (quick) taste of his album when I saw him on the Hotel Cafe tour in November last year, and was amazed. On CD however, its simply amazing: more complex, full-band sound, and rewards you more each time you listen to it.

Gentle, brooding, and dark at times, “King of Cards” is more upbeat than some of Tom’s earlier albums. Its not as accomplished as some of his earlier stuff, as some of it feels like he’s going “through the motions”, however it could well be his “breakthrough” album that brings him to wider publicity than he has enjoyed before.

Some of the songs are just perfect for a night in with a bottle of wine: “Got a Suitcase, Got Regrets” seems to cover a breakup that isn’t exactly smooth – epic, yearning and bitterness-filled, this is one of the highlights of the album for me.

“One Mississippi” is the closest to a pop song Tom has done – accessible, catchy, memorable, it is one of the highlights of the album, however it does take him off more into James Blunt/Morrison / Paulo Nutini territory than his usual Nick Drake / Jeff Buckly route.

Overall, a very accomplished album, yet not as good as some of his earlier stuff: See his self titled debut which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize in 2003 – its a bit better, but this one is more upbeat.

“Tonight is all about something that doesn’t happen enough these days – Musicians helping each other” announced Tom McRae last night as the Hotel Café tour rolled into London after a year long tour of the USA. The feeling was great: a series of artists who are all too small on their own to undertake a full UK tour, but altogether they have the ability to sell out a venue in days.

Taking a revue style to the evening, Tom opened proceedings at 8:30, and we then witnessed an amazing 2 hours and 40 minutes of non stop music. No lengthy change over’s with houselights up, we’re talking one person walks off as the next comes on, with different people joining in on different tracks when they felt the urge to, before “we start to bump each to each other, drop guitars, and generally run headlong into chaos until someone makes us leave the stage”.

First song, Hawaii and the sound goes halfway through. No problem: he just keeps on strumming and talks to the crowd, explaining the tour and how the evening is going to work. One more song and he’s off, to be replaced by Steve Reynolds, who has a voice that sounds like he’s lived in a musty back-street pub for most of his life. Two songs from Steve, and he’s quickly replaced by Joe Purdy, who has, quite frankly, legendary facial hair (which leads to a comment from Tom that he “shaves once a month and if Joe doesn’t for an hour he ends up like this….”). Joe Purdy managed to be a skilled guitarist and harmonica player, a genius if ever there was one. Next up was Cary Brothers, who was one of the main reasons I had been to see the evening: his two songs “Ride” and “Blue Eyes” are some of the best around. He played “Ride” first then “Honestly”, both from his forthcoming album next year.

Then we had a very nice surprise: Aqualung. In the spirit of the real Hotel Café in LA, bands are quite welcome to turn up and play a few songs, or just sit around and get trashed with the other artists. Aqualung came and played a new song and then “Brighter than Sunshine” – just fab, and they stuck around to play keys on “Blue Eyes” later in the evening.

After this point things got a bit blurry: the artists came back on, joined each other, did different songs, until about 10:50 when Tom came back, did “Silent Boulevard”, “Boy with the Bubblegum” and “My Vampire Heart”. By this point everyone was in very high spirits, and things were getting a bit more ragged, but still very coherent, and had everyone in the crowd in exceptionally high spirits not seen since the Pipettes swept through the capital.

All in all an excellent evening of entertainment, well worth the money: not many bands this year put on 2 hours 40 minutes of non stop music: they’re playing at Kings College Student Union next week, so go and see Tom and the artistes of the Hotel Café: it’s well worth the money, and you will have one of the best evenings of the year.