Gig review: Jamiroquai

Published on Thursday 21 April 2011 19:58

JAMIROQUAI SECC, GLASGOW ***

NEVER mind giving the moon and the stars, Jay Kay brought the entire solar system, plus bonus planets and satellites, to Glasgow and strung them from the ceiling. It was still not enough to coax a full house at the SECC, as on his previous visits, so he made it clear he would resort to emotional bribery by brandishing a Saltire to get a response from the audience.

In the end, he was able to rely on the loveable party funk of Cosmic Girl and the irresistible dance groove of Little L to get the crowd on side and moving. Like Chic's Nile Rogers, Kay knows the value of simply celebrating the desire to dance and be uplifted – a noble aim, for all the stick he gets.

Kay has been on more enthusiastic form in the past, but he and his big band managed to seduce gradually over the course of a substantial set. Jettisoning any filler, there was a policy of sticking hard by the crowd-pleasers, with the muscular likes of Deeper Underground thoroughly jammed out in extended versions.

Return of The Space Cowboy was so lengthy it would barely fit on one side of Kay's favourite old funk LP, while Love Foolosophy was first performed in stripped back fashion, using just guitar and percussion, then reprised as a full band remix, on which Kay busted out his most infectous fancy footwork.

The Saltire was not required.