16 November 2008 (gig)
04 January 2009
It has been almost 25 years since Nik Kershaw made a strong impact in the UK scene with Wouldn’t It Be Good. He has changed considerably ever since, both in looks and moreover in musical maturity. Not that his early material was trite or irrelevant. In fact, his pop outlook then was quite sensible, and mixed electronics, sweet melody and a deep sense for subtlety without sounding too weird for one’s liking. His debut album Human Racing and its follow up The Riddle can be considered among the best examples of 1980s charming pop releases.
I got the opportunity to first and foremost see him on Maltese television in a programme entitled Let’s Talk Music, performing an acoustic version of Wouldn’t It Be Good and eventually seeing and meeting the guy perform a two hour set at The Luminaire, Kilburn. Again this was an acoustic set which helped to show two aspects of Nik Kershaw, namely that the guy, now 50, is indeed a very versatile talent, and moreover that being a synth buff or a synth affacionado does not necessarily mean being not familiar with other genres or worse still, being technically poor. Kershaw is anything but a musical pauper.
His third album, Radio Musicola, may have been a rather weak effort compared to its predecessors, however, subsequent releases brought back his abilities but unfortunately, the onset of grunge and also new younger talents meant that his time in the charts was over. He never lost heart, and has been releasing good material ever since, switching to acoustic music, not because it is a trend but because it was his first love. At The Luminaire, he delivered great renditions of The Riddle, the aforementioned debut hit, Wide Boy, Save The Whale, a great environmentally-conscious song, and lots of new songs from his most recent release You’ve Got To Laugh. There was a lot to fathom in his guitar styles when he performed Old House, Born Yesterday and Yeah Yeah. At times, Nik reminded the erudite, keen listener of Donovan, with all those wistful, allusory tunes. Here was a man who was transformed and he could indeed go places, at least on an artistic level with such a transformation. It was quite odd that time and again, a young shaven-haired lady walked around wearing new romantic gear, reminding all and sundry of a bygone era, which nonetheless a lot of 40-somethings still cherish. The audience, which numbered around 200 was also quite interested. Most of those who attended recalled their youth when Nik Kershaw was huge.
Kershaw seems to live day by day, unfazed by all the changes that have been going on around him and willing to go on with his style of music. 'I am just enjoying it and I really appreciate that you kept me in mind, despite being far away from us' he added when I recalled his Malta experience.
Kershaw’s art should not be underestimated nor should it by hyped. He can at best be a vital undercurrent in a disposable pop world.
