Gig review: Maverick Sabre, The Arches, Glasgow

The careful positioning of Hackney singer/rapper Michael Stafford, aka Maverick Sabre, as “one to watch” has been as calculated as his voice is affected, taking in profile-boosting collaborations with the likes of Chase & Status – he was rapidly dubbed “the male Amy Winehouse” – and namechecked on the Brits Critics Choice shortlist.

All this in the hope of selling a product which simply conflates the proven sellability of Adele and Plan B with a fraction of their natural pop appeal.

Judging by the number of soul boy flat caps in the audience, he has succeeded in convincing some, even though his voice – when it could be properly discerned in a sometimes muddy mix – sounded put-on. Like Winehouse, he is given to swallowing his syllables but displayed none of her compensating emotional integrity when he tackled the old-skool soul balladry of I Can Never Be.

The occasional torch song and one horribly mannered acoustic scat aside, his set mainly comprised insipid, anachronistic Brit jazzfunk, slick soul pop chartbait and second division dubby trip-hop which, despite the proficiency of his band, was worn like a passing fashion rather than inhabited with any sense of ownership.

The Portishead-sampling Let Me Go provided a shot of much-needed spunk late in the game but his token credentials-stretching cover merely confirmed that A Change Is Gonna Come is the new Hallelujah for wannabe credibility seekers. And there’s nothing maverick about that.

Rating: **