Paolo Nutini.

On a warm Friday evening, as the sun set in Lincoln, a crowd of young and old filled the Engine Shed, to see the artist with the number one album at the moment, Paolo Nutini. The first support act, 'Will and the People', got the crowd into a great mood from the start, with their upbeat pop songs that were easy to tap your feet and dance to, they looked like they were having a great time on stage. The second support act 'The Panics', were equally as good, however thier music seemed to slow the mood down, which isn't always the best thing for a support act as they're meant to get the crowd excited for the main act. As they went off stage, we waited for around thirty mintues as the roadies set up the stage, does anyone else hate this part of a gig?? The waiting always seems to take forever as the roadies pick up all six guitars to make sure they're tuned perfectly as well as all the other instruments, including a saxophone and trumpet, in the end being jeered by the crowd for keeping us waiting so long. Then it went went dark, all except the fairy lights strung across the ceiling, giving it a quaint village fete atmosphere, furthering the intimacy of the small venue. As Paolo stepped onto the stage and straight into his 2006 hit 'New Shoes' the crowd went wild, with dancing and singing which they carried on throughout the entire gig. The stand out songs had to be 'No Other Way' and 'Coming Up Easy' from his latest album 'Sunny Side Up' which he sang with passion and obvious love for his music. His presence on stage seemed big for such a young performer, keeping the crowd hooked on his every word and gruftly sung lyric. Singing songs from his new album as well as some of his older songs, his voice never faulted. In the modern era were you can pay £70 to see Britney Spears mime her songs, you cannot beat a soulful singer like Paolo, singing and playing his own instruments so passionatly in such a small venue. And so as he finished on 'Jenny don't be Hasty', the song that brought him to the public's attention and walked off the stage to the song 'We'll meet again', i hope we do, as the Italian named singer from Scotland gave us a brilliant performance that won't be forgotten by anyone that was there anytime soon, and proved just why he has the number one album right now.