Live Review: Jamie Lawson, Ryan Keen

It is rare that a support act can take a serious and warranted run at being the highlight of the night. Ryan Keen is undoubtedly up for the challenge. The UK singer-songwriter commands uninterrupted attention as he taps effortlessly at his guitar with remarkable precision. Keen's opener Orelia and crowd favourite See Me Now instantly position him as an axiom of incredible musicianship. While Keen does have a tendency to slip in and out of folk-pop archetypes in songs such as Skin And Bones, he maintains a smiley and soulful disposition throughout.

Jamie Lawson gives an awkward wave to the crowd as he steps out onto the stage. In most cases, relocating a gig to a smaller venue would create an atmospheric intimacy, but moving from Forum Theatre to Corner Hotel seems to disenchant the acoustic nature of the performance. Lawson has a hard time finding his footing, and refers to the Australian leg of his tour as "the problematic one" after a technical issue during his piano-rock ballad The Last Time, but he seems to warm to the venue as the night goes on.

Lawson's backing band constantly exit and return to the stage throughout the night, giving the Plymouth-born singer a chance to really show off his skills as a songwriter. Nowhere is this made more evident than in the beautifully simple All Is Beauty, which, if anything, brings into question the necessity for a full band at all. The additional instrumentation offers very little to Lawson's ability to vary his sound, and after a while it's hard to tell if they have played four songs or 14. Even when the tone of the evening shifts into new territories - such as the bluesy-loose But Love Me and Let Love Hold You Now's interesting chord progression - Lawson and Co seem keen to rush straight to the next generic composition.

Lawson himself is ultimately endearing and clearly has an immense attachment to his music. Biting harshly at the rare profanities punctuates the emotional rawness of his songs and their subjects, showing a rarer side of Lawson's otherwise polite stage presence. With his biggest hit Wasn't Expecting That closing the set before an encore, the crowd are well and truly exposed to he many facets of Lawson's onstage persona.

A night of ups and downs for Lawson makes for a rocky and unbalanced performance overall. However, a man who can successfully cover both Van Morrison and Justin Bieber in a single show definitely deserves acknowledgement.