Nov 18 2009 12:53 pm, PIC: Karen Toftera
Patrick Wolf
Palladium, London
15/11/2009
It’s Sunday night at the Palladium and the packed theatre is giddy with anticipation. Patrick Wolf launches himself onstage and bursts into ‘Overture’ backed by a sextet of strings, a trio of gospel singers and his larger than life wardrobe collection. Forever the theatrical type, there couldn’t be a more perfect venue for Wolf than this. His powerful voice fills the room and his stadium-sized presence is electrifying.
It’s hard not to be impressed, not only by Patrick himself but by the overwhelming array of guests. Somehow he manages to bag a duet with a machine-less Florence Welch on ‘Who Will?’ and hard-hitting synth support from Atari Teenage Riot veteran Alec Empire. And the singer gives us everything he can; breathing new life into songs which admittedly came across a little half-baked on his ambitious concept album 'The Bachelor'. Despite receiving some harsh criticism from the press throughout his career and being one of the most misunderstood artists working today, this positively epic performance would silence even the most affronted music critic as Wolf’s show is flawless from start to end.
Tonight at the Palladium proves Patrick’s true potential as a magnificent showman capable of conjuring up genuine tearjerkers such as ‘The Sun Is Often Out’ (like a postmodern Sinatra) side by side with the glam pop sugar rush of OTT Empire-assisted anthem ‘Vulture’. Posing on a rotating glitter ball podium for the spectacular finale, Wolf even comes across like a male indie Lady GaGa wearing little more than glitter, silver wings and white skinny jeans. He was born to polarise opinions and offend conservative listeners, but surely by now the verdict should be unanimous - Patrick Wolf will always be treated as a superstar by his dedicated fan base, on hysterical form tonight, and that’s something he couldn’t be more deserving of.
Connor Crooks
