Paolo Nutini in Luxembourg - 2022.10.6.

Paul Dechering
Oct 15, 2022
4 min read

gig review by Paul Dechering

edited by Miyuki Wang

I'm not going to lie, Paolo Nutini didn't really click with me when I saw him at Knebworth when he played there as one of the openers for Liam Gallagher in June but that was probably due to me being too mentally occupied with Liam on that day. I gave his newest album a listen after I read Paul's gig review and now I think Last Night In The Bittersweet is one of the best autumn/winter albums along with other 50 on the same list.

We met Paul in Luxembourg last spring when we went there to see Fontaines D.C. - he travelled there just to see Fontaines all the way from Germany (bestie material). He is now back in Luxembourg, working at a music club.

Here is his gig review about Paolo Nutini at Rockhal, Luxembourg on October 6th, 2022.

I first discovered Paolo Nutini on YouTube doing a studio session version of his song 'Better Man.'

ree — Last Night In The Bittersweet (2022)

This song was one of the few ones I ever heard of him on purpose until the 6th of October 2022, when he performed live at Rockhal in Luxembourg. With his first album Last Night In The Bittersweet after a break of 8 years I was kind of interested in how he'd perform live. Even though Paolo seems to belong to a whole different era than most other bands already reviewed here, he is just 34, with his career spanning over 16 years already back to 2006, when most of us were still kids or at least way younger. But let's head to the gig review.

The concert was supported by the great Mazey Haze, a solo project of Nadine Appledoorn, who was accompanied by her so-called "Friends" band. They did a pretty good job, playing for half an hour and entertaining the audience quite well with a good sense of wit in between their songs. I'd describe the sound of Mazey Haze as a mixture of Alvvays, Mac DeMarco and Courtney Barnett, but listen to them yourself if you want to make yourself a better picture of that.

Paolo Nutini's Band came on stage at 9pm sharp, opening their 22 songs set with "Afterneath" off the new album. When the band started the third song, "Scream (Funk My Life Up)" off his third record Caustic Love the air seemed to be on fire.

There were many girls in the crowd who had been fans of Paolo for a long time, which gave it some kind of Beatlemania Vibe which I've never experienced before at a concert. Paolo has a great stage presence, and with his newly shoulder-long hair, he made some good Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison-inspired impersonations. In the middle of the concert, he mentioned a bigger fangirl crowd in the back which was singing VERY loud, telling the audience that he would have finally found his background singers again. The arrangement of the songs was often changed to medleys or just instrument-wise, which really showed off the musical greatness of the band. Still, I have got to say that the songs which were not rearranged sounded exactly as on the records. I've never heard somebody singing as original live as it's on the record, big props to Paolo here.

Also, he joked about the three cups standing on his piano, "it's tea, not beer." I didn't understand too much of what he said in between, but that might be caused by his strong Scottish accent and his mumbling, but maybe also by the "tea".

After 18 songs the band left the stage and came back after a 2-minute break. What followed was "Let Me Down Easy," "Iron Sky," "Shine a Light" and a solo acoustic medley of "Abigail" and "Writer."

After the last chord, Paolo came down the front row and shook everybody's hands, congratulated a girl for her birthday and hugged some die-hard fans. What a great interaction with the audience. Some people will remember this day their whole life, and that's exactly the goal every musician should achieve. I left really impressed and am definitely gonna listen more to Paolo Nutini. If he's around your place, take the chance. You won't regret it.

Setlist

Afterneath

Lose It

Acid Eyes

Stranded Words

Radio

Better Man

Heart Filled Up

Dream a Little Dream / No Other Way

Echoes (3 piece)

Coming Up Easy (4 piece)

Cherry Blosom

Petrified

Pencil

Jenny

Take Me Take Mine

Candy (with intro)

Everywhere

Let Me Down Easy

Iron Sky

Shine a Light

Abigail / Writer (acoustic)

Paul has his own music out on various platforms. Stream his songs on Spotify and Apple Music. Our fave is 'Creeping and Crawl.'

We are beyond excited to have Paul as the 3rd guest writer on our page. AND we're looking for more of you to join us with your pieces about gigs you've been to and music you like. Please contact us via instagram DM, email (notaluciddream@gmail.com) or contact form on our website with any ideas you've got. We're looking forward to hearing from YOU.

Paolo Nutini will be on his sold-out UK tour from the end of October to December. Find out more