Brooke Combe @ Roundhouse, Camden; ‘give it up for the future’
“Give it up for the future” yells Miles Kane speaking of Brooke Combe following their rendition of Tina Turner’s Nutbush City Limits after she opened his show in Roundhouse Camden – and he’s not wrong.
Combe packed a wrecking-ball-dropped-from-the-top-of-the-Shard energy from the off with A-Game last night with the kind of vocals that create X-factor audience face melting memes. With her stage presence, it comes as no surprise that she’s touring with Miles Kane. She needed no warmup or introduction throwing the Alex Turner style wide arm hand flicks. Speaking of which, her cover of Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? gave me more chills than the original.
Only after listening back to her records this morning have I realised how much more she has to offer. Her voice could fill cathedrals. Mixed with the reverberation from the walls of the roundhouse it was impossible to stop the hair raising on the back of your neck.
It wasn’t her voice alone that had your pupils shaped like love hearts. Her care-free attitude and conviction have you fixed on every word, it was as if she was playing to a room of her best pals. Speaking of her latest record, Miss Me Now, “this one’s about heartbreak, but sometimes you’ve just got to say fuck it and move on” – I think that sums her up pretty nicely.
Saying this, it could have been much more if the band had a little more life. After Brooke’s energy, it was similar to a high school band’s first rehearsal. For comparison, Miles Kane’s guitarist had his top off in minutes (can’t say for certain that he came on with it on). Somewhere in the middle would have bolstered the overall performance.
Combe is playing at a few festivals over the summer, Glastonbury included, and this is me telling you to make sure you see her. I’m certain she’ll gain loyal fans from her vocals gliding over the fields and hitting festival goers like the smell of pizza hits drunk people walking home from the pub.