When artists play live, they reveal themselves in a way few of us have ever to do. For the likes of reviewers like ourselves albums are only ever half the story; if we like what we hear on plastic we’ll always endeavour to witness a live performance by the act. Now it happens that I have witnessed a live performance by Katie Melua at the MEN arena in Manchester. I had the opportunity to photograph her and my eyes and lens told me that she is a very pretty young lady. But what did my ears tell me?

I had mixed views. She seemed to excell with some songs that were written for her, but cracks appeared when singing a few of her own songs and those of others. I’ve seen and heard better, much better. LIVE AT THE o2 ARENA confirms that view.

The opening song ‘Piece By Piece’ is written by Melua and this live rendition sounds pretty good, and within her capabilities. Only when she has to stretch her voice does one begin to hear her limitations. The next track ‘Lilac Wine’ on the other hand (which resembles Jeff Buckley’s beautiful interpretation) fails. Her falsetto sounds unatural and uncontrolled, the more contemplative moments are unconvincing. And when she attempts to stretch her voice the whole thing just comes apart. With an audience of devoted middle-class and older fans (just as in Manchester) one expects enthusiastic applause which is duly delivered.

Gerogian song ‘Kviteli Potlebi’ is one of the highs of this album and Melua copes easily with the limited performance challenge it offers. Melua’s band is nothing short of excellent and it’s given voice to prove it on ‘My Aphrodisiac Is Yoo’ in this jazzed-up version. Jim Watson on piano really sounds as if he’s having a ball, as he does several times on this album. The problem for Melua is that the band dominates, although she makes a decent fist of the song.

John Mayall’s ‘Crawling Up A Hill’ is next and Melua gives a good, lyrical performance but struggles on those high notes. Luke Potashnick provides some terrific guitar licks, Henry Spinetti provides a solid rhythmic foundation while Frank Gallagher chimes in some some pleasant keyboard moments. ‘Mary Pickford’ is another Mike Batt super-mainstream pop slice which Melua sings well. Arlen and Mercer’s ‘Blues In The Night’ is successfuly negotiated by Melua who is helped by more beautiful work from her band. It’s only when she tries to be vocally clever (fortunately not often with this song) that the challenge is too great.

Batt’s ‘If You Were A Sailboat’ is peformed well although her close mic work is poorly reproduced here. At this point I have to say that Melua has a distinctive voice with a particular sonic signature which is appealing and sets her apart. The very average ‘Ghost Town’ is a writing collaboration between Batt and Melua  which performed live is less than satisfactory, with poor phrasing and some very shaky vocal moments. ‘Perfect Circle’ is another mediocre song and rendition. Not so with Melua’s own ‘Spider’s Web’ which is an interesting song performed expressively with some excellent backing from the band, and especially the piano. One can hear that Melua is particulary passionate about the song and the technical vocal mishaps can be forgiven for this reason.

The album closes on arguably Melua’s best writing effort ‘I Cried For You.’ It offers few vocal challenges but when it does she’s mostly up to the task, and performs it with passion, sincerity and feeling.

The reality of Katie Melua is that her voice has its limitations and these show up clearly in live performance, and especially in larger venues where the demands of vocal projection are much greater. Live performance is revealing of both vocal talent and the ability to connect and  hold an audience. In front of devoted and largely undemanding fans Melua is comfortable and connects well. She has a natural vocal ability that needs ‘refining.’ On a final note, after listening to this album I feel she is a good song writer and much prefer her songs to Batt’s. Maybe she feels the same way…

3.5/5