Its deep for me. Thought his voice sounded wonderful and rich with the male voice choir. Sorry didnt get the same vibe with the song from the film Once.

http://planetmusicreviews.wordpress.com/20...3th-march-2010/

 

South Hall in Covent Garden Market was a nice place to hold a busking session. Originally I got there around 1.50pm to find out that this event started at 2pm. Once I got there I made my way down the steps and sat on the floor. The event which was hosted by Marie Curie and billed as Music For Mums had four artists busking. These were Girls Can’t Catch (Who have supported Girls Aloud) Aussie popstar Gabriella Cilmi (Who has made her comeback on UK shores), Popstar to Operastar winner Darius Campbell and it was rounded off by Camilla Kerslake (Who is Gary Barlow’s first signing on Future Records).

 

First up were girl band Girls Can’t Catch. This girl band consisted of Daizy Agnew, Jess Strickly and Phoebe Brown (who was originally in Hope from The X Factor). Now these girls are extremely talented and have supported the likes of Girls Aloud and Jonas Brothers. The busk was only limited to four songs but what a four songs they were. Happy Alone kicked off the set and it sounds perfect. The harmonising is spotless the vocals gel together perfectly. Daniel Merriweather cover Red was my favourite. It was delivered perfectly as a band and was ever so strong. The penultimate song was debut single Keep Your Head Up which only reached #26. Top 20 hit Echo ends the busk which entered the charts at #19. Now Keep Your Head Up was a nice song and was delivered perfectly. I like it when songs are stripped bare at events like this. It was Echo which I was familiar with and it was their highest charting single. The song has catchy lyrics and it sounded brilliant. The girls vocals gel brilliantly and the fact it was a busk made it extra special.

 

It was just over 7 days since I last saw Gabriella perform new material. So once I knew she would be doing a busk I dropped everything just to attend. Gabriella is a truly talented recording artist and has a outstanding voice. It is hard to believe she is only 18. Gabriella has a soulful voice and the opening song Sweet About Me doesn’t fail to impress. Before starting the next song Gabriella makes a plea for people to chuck a few pounds in the money boxes the men and women in yellow hats have. What If You Knew starts off at a fast pace. It is a extremely powerful song which has the line “What if you knew, Your best friend is in love with you”. It sounds amazing and Gabriella’s vocals are stunning. I cant imagine to think how jaw dropping the full on live version sounds like. The third song being the slushy Defender. It is a nice slow ballad with lyrics delivered strongly and passionately. The current single which was set to chart in the top 10 was next. On A Mission is a song which is catchy and it has lyrics that are delivered strongly. My favourite bit was when Gabriella does a little rap and pulls it off marvellously.

 

The next artist was a real treat. Fresh from winning ITV’s very own Popstar To Operastar Darius Campbell (nee Danesh) wowed the audience with two pop songs and the other three being operatic. Now I am not a fan of opera but when Darius performed 3 opera songs I just watched in awe. It was completely spine tingling. Well back to the set. Darius came up to the busking area wearing a suit and picked up his acoustic guitar. This song being Colourblind which was the debut and first #1 for Darius. This song was simply sublime. It was more of a ballad as the tempo was slowed down greatly. Darius still has it when singing old material. The vocals were spot on and it got plenty of applause when it was over. Falling Slowly which was a busking song from the film Once was next. Darius calls up a girl who took to a stool next to him. For this song Darius was singing it to Olivia. Darius delivered the song well and can hit the high notes at ease. For the final three songs Olivia stayed at the front sitting on the stool. These songs were operatic numbers and they literally wowed the crowd. The first was Nessun Dorma which is belted out. What makes it even more incredible was the fact there was no backing track. It was completely done acapella. The penultimate song being Non Piu Andrai. This is faster in pace and Darius delivers a brilliant performance. Now hearing opera in a setting like this in completely surreal. When you are sitting within metres your jaw just drops and there is a tingle up your spine. Before starting the final song Darius mentions about his dad whom survived Cancer. The song The Impossible Dream was dedicated to the nurses of Marie Curie. By the time Darius was singing this song I was literally shaking as it was freezing. This song was sung as a duet with Rolando on Popstar To Operastar. Well Darius smashes it the vocals are tremendous. The song is slightly emotional. So after this jaw dropping set people went up to Darius to get photos, items signed and even the photographers got there shots. One was of Darius hoisting up a nurse for Marie Curie and holding her in his arms.

 

OVERALL: This was a brilliant event with three acts I really like. Girls Can’t Catch gel together perfectly as a three piece and they deserve a lot more success than a #19 single in the charts. Gabriella Cilmi was amazing as always. The funny part of the set came before it started and the announcer pronounced Gabriella’s surname wrong. Darius was literally wow. Popstar To Operastar has done good as he can power through operatic songs at ease. Also the performance of Colourblind was brilliant.

What a brilliant review, and from the videos I've seen, thanks to Meg, he deserves every word of it. The Impossible Dream is just breathtaking, I can't get enough of it. It still feels strange though to have people saying nice things about Darius without a negative dig at the end. I hope it's something we're all going to get used to in the future. Sue

great to read,

Thanks everyone for all the links, photos and videos.

 

Have we seen this pic?

 

http://twitpic.com/18q41z

 

 

 

 

 

aww, lovely BT, he is such a sweetie

Does anyone know what other gig he did that day or didn't he say?

He didn't say. I forgot to ask. I love the bumped into Darius pic

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/megham/2010/Marie%20Curie/bumpedintoDarius.jpg

I loved that review because that person thought about the opera numbers exactly what I thought. to me the way he does it brings opera to the masses with a great voice and not seeming stuffy. I hope he keeps it up. It showscases his voice so wsell.

I love to hear what a great voice he has for classical singing but I'd hate to lose the personal feeling that goes with his own songs.

I love to hear what a great voice he has for classical singing but I'd hate to lose the personal feeling that goes with his own songs.

 

Me too. How unbearable would it be to have Darius's songs go straight to other artists?

 

I know he'd get the credit and still get the same royalties, but I think something special happens when the writer sings a song which has significance for him, as all of Darius's have.

Me too. How unbearable would it be to have Darius's songs go straight to other artists?

 

I know he'd get the credit and still get the same royalties, but I think something special happens when the writer sings a song which has significance for him, as all of Darius's have.

I love hearing D sing his own songs, and some have been very good, but I don't feel we've seen the very best of his writing skills so far. There are people out there who regularly write hit and number one records, released by varying artists, and I would like to see Darius gain more commercial success than he currently has, even if it meant sacrificing one or two songs from an album for someone else's material(just for now).

There are a couple of pictures from Marie Curie on Flickr:-

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mariecuriecan...in/photostream/

Ditto, he has come more to notice doing what he has been doing now, so why change a successful formula at least for now or perhaps mix it up with a view to changes later. I do think people are appreciating this real voice that they hadnt realised he had and have sat up and took notice anyway I know a few who think like that. The previous formula might prove doubtful and then he could be battling the charts again which is always hard.

Thanks. FC - they are lovely.

WOW That is a really Fantastic review :cheer: ......its soooooo Fantastic when other people give Darius the respect and recognision he so deserves!

There are a couple of pictures from Marie Curie on Flickr:-

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mariecuriecan...in/photostream/

FC it would have been lovely to meet you the other day. Please do say hello if you see me at another D gig. I'll be the fattest bloke there, with the biggest, daftest grin on his face :)

 

 

Thank you Meg - I loved 'Falling Slowly' I've been missing his falsetto :)

There's already a video of 'Nessun Dorma' from the gig, so I'll probably not put mine up.

He did 2 pop songs, 2 arias and one musical theatre song in a classical style for Marie Curie UK.

 

Do you think that sort of balance of material would work on the album?

 

Not good busking songs but should he also tackle a sacred song or two? He does them well and a lot of the spirituals are ideal for lower voices?

Edited March 19, 201015 yr by Baytree