ON A NIGHT when Al Green was performing at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, it really was rubbing salt in the wound for Tired of Being Alone and Love and Happiness to feature in the pre-show music for Will Young's sole Scottish date on his odd summer tour.
As a statement of the personable lad's aspirations, however, it was fair enough. The Pop Idol winner has a very fine blue-eyed soul voice and his musical director Joseph Ross has drilled a very slick 12piece band with three backing singers and three horns. When they want to be, they are every bit as funky as Jay Kay's troupe and Will is a better singer. But it is hard to imagine the Reverend Al embarking on a summer tour of castles, docks, racecourses, motor museums and country houses as Young bizarrely appears to be doing.
Perhaps that's the theatricality in the boy. Although he is relaxed on stage and endearingly given to talking about whatever enters his head, there is a suspicion that part of him is auditioning for the role of the Emcee in Cabaret. A very stagy encore with much posing in marionette fashion on a speciallylit portion of the stage only confirms that need - and it sits oddly with the best of his music.
Light My Fire apart (a ludicrously over-rated song in any case) , Young's name has been made by ballads like Leave Right Now and You and I. But his new songs, the dancey Think It Over and the midtempo Cuba suggest a broader R&B direction which suits his voice and his easygoing charm.
Concentrating on that path while the going is good might be wise, otherwise a career in touring musical theatre may beckon rather sooner than he really deserves.
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