Amy Winehouse

They should have sold souvenir posters. A picture of Amy Winehouse in her little black dress and Goth lipstick, playing a powder blue Fender Stratocaster would have made the ideal souvenir for her male admirers, who are out in force tonight. One man was even offering a hundred pounds on the door just to get up close to his new idol at this tiny sell-out show. But a poster couldn’t have conveyed the most remarkable thing about this 20-year-old Londoner: her voice. Sleek, provocative, engaging – it’s led to comparisons with classic jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday. And tonight she adds a cover of Billie’s ‘(There Is) No Greatest Love’ to her set, along with a gorgeous up-tempo take of Thelonius Monk’s mournful ‘Round Midnight’.

But her own songs are far from antiques. Amy writes about the London life she knows: doing too much E, getting ‘caned’ at a friend’s flat, sleeping with a one-night stand. Her writing and vocal skills have won her two Brit Award nominations, for Best British Female Solo artist and Best British Urban Act. In fact, tonight’s sound is less Urban than that of her debut album ‘Frank’. The band sustains a jazzy feel thanks to a Fender Rhodes piano, a flute and a funky three-piece horn section. Between songs, Amy seems overwhelmed by the occasion, waving in a gangly way to friends and family in the crowd and seeking reassurance from her keyboard player. Her confidence is bound to grow in future, as she takes her show to larger venues and crowds of adoring strangers. The poster sellers outside will make a fortune.