In Defense of Amy Winehouse

Neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse just played at the Vic in Chicago last night and the local critics were eager to voice their disappointment. Time Out Chicago's blog pointed out the shame "that Winehouse’s raw talent – so ably displayed on her recent Back To Black album – didn’t translate to a live setting." And Chicagoist pulled no punches: "From a critical standpoint, she was just a train wreck."

Ouch.

Chicagoist's Tankboy mentions that her SXSW performance "produced the buzz she rode into her sold-out Chicago show." Well, I didn't hear any of that buzz, so I came in with lower expectations. I love BtB, I've seen the music videos and read the booze and drug-streaked stories about her on gossip blogs. More importantly, I also checked out some performance videos on YouTube where she basically stood at a mic and sang in a dark, small space to subdued crowds. So as I walked into the early twentieth-century vaudeville theater, I wondered, "what will she actually do on a full stage?"

First, her 9-piece band, The Dap Kings, filed onto stage. Then Amy struts on to rapturous applause and good Lord she is tiny. Seriously, she's like a foot shorter than everyone else. (I don't just mean on stage. She's basically a foot shorter than anyone, ever) Her huge, upswept black hair and thick Cleopatra eye shadow probably weigh more than she does. She was wearing a belly-baring (and, thusly, tattoo-bearing) t-shirt and the lowest slung jeans I have ever seen. My first thought was, "is she going to sing out of her vagina?" I mean, I know she's talented...

Anyway. I, for one, was riveted by her. She carried a basket full of candy and popped in two huge pieces of bubblegum, and then sang flawlessly anyway. Between songs, after admitting in her thick British accent that she's terrible with onstage banter, she starts throwing candy into the crowd. Chicagoist referred to this as "padding" her set. Since when is talking to the crowd and having fun "padding"? Her remarks, when understandable, were hilarious. She danced in her own little funny way and made sure the stagehands kept her plastic cup full of gin. I like her.

There were nuances that maybe not every audience member could see depending on their angle. Chicagoist criticized her " annoying tendency to try and pull off the 'bad girl' act to mask insecurity and inexperience." She seemed genuinely surprised at the crowd's roaring enthusiasm, eliciting a smirk or widened eyes from her and looking back at her band as if to say, "can you believe this?" I swear we were witnessing this very young - and yes, maybe insecure - woman realizing the power she wields. She seemed to flit from unsure to torchy diva to brassy badass back to shy again within minutes. She is only 23 after all. (And then, to be honest, sometimes she seemed to be coasting on her big, bluesy voice alone.) It was raw, unpolished, uneven and totally refreshing to watch.

Did the show have problems? Sure. The set was short, but if you were smart enough to snag the tickets when they were $20 you might not be as pissed about that. The Dap Kings were underutilized. And, for some reason, they did rush the songs, but it seems inaccurate to criticize Amy for rushing her delivery - the songs were simply played faster so she accomodated appropriately.

Did she nervously fuss with her hair? Not that much, but even if she did, c'mon! Where do you think she keeps her extra booze? And yes she hiked up her jeans a lot, but no one criticizes rappers for touching their crotches for no reason a bazillion times per show. When Amy does it, it's a sign of her lack of presence.

On the contrary, it's exactly all these little tics and flaws that made her so interesting. She's not a one-note, run-up-and-down-the-stage performer, nor should she try to be. She's not a rock star. BtB is polished, but that doesn't mean we have to expect her performances to be. Many of her songs are about her fucking up, she referred to herself as "fuck up" on stage, and she's even documented her refusal to clean up her fucked-up-ness on her hit "Rehab." We all knew exactly what we were getting when going to her show. You can call her a "train wreck," but why stop there? She was a boozy, messy, funny, flirty, great-sounding train wreck. And it was bewitching.

Also check out: Soul Sisters: Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone.
And: Out with the Old, In with the Slightly Less Old.