Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > March > 15 > Entry
SXSW review: Duffy
We’re talking, say, writers and playwrights and whiskey-makers and actors and spies and motorcars and queens and such.
And, oh yeah, they also have a gift for ginning out Anglo-Saxon and Celtic women who seem put on Earth to channel their inner Carla Thomas; Young lasses from the mists and the moors of the Auld Sod who sing like they came of age in Memphis and hung out at the Stax studio. You’ve got your Lulu, your Dusty Springfield, your Joss Stone, your Amy Winehouse and now a young 23-year old from Wales named Duffy.
Virtually unknown on this side of the Pond, she has held down the No. 1 spot on the U.K. charts for the past five weeks. Her performances at SXSW (she played a number of parties before her Stubb’s gig) marked her first U.S. appearances “I’ve never played outdoors before,” she marveled.
With her peaches-and-cream complexion and bouffant blonde hair, dressed to kill in the proverbial Little Black Dress and scarlet stilettos, Duffy was the visual antithesis of Winehouse. But comparisons don’t really do justice to either singer.
Essaying a nine-song set of original material (she writes with a collaborator) Duffy cruised the streets of the soul and R&B ‘hood. There was the velvet-glove Philly/Motown groove of “Delayed Devotion,” the brooding, powerful, anthemic “Rockferry,” the moody soul-noir of “Stepping Stone,” some R-rated funk ‘n’ grind on a song whose title I didn’t catch, and — last and far from least — the insanely catchy single “Mercy,” with its ping-pong hook and impassioned, yearning vocal. It’s a song that Martha Reeves or Aretha herself would have killed for, and Duffy acquitted herself in fine fashion.
As soul divas go, Duffy comes down stylistically on the cool and elegant Dionne Warwick side of the ledger. As good as her set was, if she could manage to add a little Etta James or Bettye LaVette sass and grit to her mix, there might be no stopping her.
(Duffy performs at Stubb’s during her showcase Saturday. Photo by Deborah Cannon/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.
By Tom Ordon
March 17, 2008 7:42 AM | Link to this
Lori and I saw Duffy four times at South By Southwest (SXSW) in the last two days and she was in excellent voice and her band was top notch. We saw her at: 1. 3/14/08 Friday afternoon, Private Party put on by her U.S. label Mercury Records at the Parish on 6th Street. Lori and I got chills as we listened to what we have only watched on videos on youtube. She did a spine-tingling set of 6 songs: Rockferry, Warwick Avenue, Serious, Syrup and Honey, Stepping Stone, Mercy. Her sound knocked all the record executives and music writers right off their feet. Nobody in the audience had the U.K. cd except me and Lori, since we ordered it off amazon.uk, so we would have it in time to get it autographed by her after the show, and we did! Duffy was very kind to us and we had a few laughs talking music with her. 2. 3/14/08 The Fader Party at the Fort on 4th Street. Again, a great set of 5 songs, same setlist as before, but this time omitting Syrup and Honey. 3. 3/15/08 Saturday, The DMX Party at Brush Park under the North Tent. She played after a band called British Sea Power. Duffy rocked the place with a four song set. She probably had to cut it short since they were behind schedule and had to get their equipment down to Stubb’s for her “Official SXSW Showcase”. 4. 3/15/08 Saturday, Stubb’s on 8th Street, in the outside band shell. This was the performance of a lifetime. Duffy pulled out all the stops, and without any introduction by radio guys or record execs, just walked out and blew everybody away with her songs! In between songs she was as nice and mild mannered as ever, but during the performances we knew we were seeing and hearing something special. She did a set of 9 songs, and every number had an intensity of true soul. By the way, she wore a black dress and was dressed to kill, and she did, vocally, visually and in every way. I must end my report now, since we are very tired from 4 days of intense music listening. I started off Wednesday with Van Morrison in a little club called La Zona Rosa playing his new album from start to finish. Then on Thursday I went to Roky Erickson’s Psychedelic Ice Cream Social for a very powerful show where Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top came on stage with Roky and the Explosives and played 4 or 5 songs. Then on Friday we were part of an amazing Direct TV Live Broadcast of the great Daniel Lanois with drummer Brian Blade from the Austin Convention Center. But the highlight of the festival? Seeing Duffy take America by storm in 4 fantastic shows! Her cd will not be released here until May. I am sure it will be a huge success.