Live Review: John Newman

Did you see John Newman performing Love Me Again at The Logies? How about those moves! And our Kylie is clearly a fan. She was goin' off at her table next to Andy Lee. That performance probably generated a few extra ticket sales for tonight, although the Palace Theatre balcony remains closed off for the show's duration. After his backing band assembles on stage, Newman is illuminated before a backdrop and that's an enlarged replica of his Tribute cover. The soul singer even angles his body in such a way that if you took a photo and compared it with the album artwork it'd make a ripper Spot The Difference. Commencing with said album's opening track, Newman immediately bounds about and could be this generation's Rick Astley in his cream suit. The 23-year-old resembles an adult baby, obviously has a good tailor and those black suede slippers sure look comfortable to slide around in.

Newman's nasally vocal tone is as precise and pitch-perfect as a musical instrument (see: Easy and Out Of My Head) – more oboe than kazoo – but everyone just wants to clap eyes on his apparently Northern Soul-inspired 'I just can't control my feet' dance style. For some reason, Newman has a lot of bespectacled fans. During All I Need Is You (which evokes the 1985 protest song by Artists United Against Apartheid, Sun City, in a live setting) Newman particularly channels a moonwalking penguin. You can't help but smile when you're watching Newman in full flight and there are several trademark steps he returns to – the jump with your legs crossed and spin to face the back, the kick your own butt and the funky sideways crab shuffle. His spontaneous outbursts bring to mind those plastic collapsible animals.

Considering we haven't as yet heard the hit Newman showcased at The Logies, it's an encore fake-out but the audience goes wild to bring him back regardless. When Newman returns to the stage, he's changed out of the cream pants and into a black pair – he probably split them during overenthusiastic dancing. Including Rudimental's smash Not Giving In exercises our larynxes and hip flexors. At the conclusion of his set, Newman wanders across the full length of the front of Palace Theatre's stage – not shaking hands, just making meaningful eye contact with as many punters as possible. Given Newman's extreme popularity in his homeland (where Tribute went to number one), breaking into new territories must feel strange, but full credit must be awarded to him for busting his chops and splitting his pants for our entertainment. Next time Newman visits our shores his skunk-striped quiff is bound to be admired by the masses.