Review & Photographs by Sarah Quick

I have heard some good things about Just Jack from friends who saw him at Glastonbury, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, even though I know a couple of his songs from the radio.  

Jack (Allsop) began his set with ‘Life Stories’, a rap with a wonderfully funky riff backing his lyrics – Jack himself constantly moved all over the stage in a slow, low walk with a gentle bounce in his step, expressive with his hands and quick to smile, I warmed to him early in the show. His lyrics are often cynical but have an honesty to them that are thought provoking, speaking to the audience between numbers, he came over as a genuinely lovely man who hasn’t allowed himself to become too bigheaded with his success. He referred to the Thekla where he’d played a couple of times before “and look us now man, playing the big boys!’

The fifth number was an acoustic one ‘Hold on’ which Jack confessed he wouldn’t have dreamt of attempting a few months before and after a few lines he had to restart as I think he got a few lines wrong – with a big smile he retorted “that’s what you call a f**k up in the business!”

I particularly enjoyed ‘Glory Days’ and as the show went on, the lighting got better and better (sadly it was particularly low lighting during the first three numbers which is the only time that you are allowed to photograph at the Academy!). The backdrop was a grid of tiny lights which, coupled with some narrow spots at the front, made for some interesting effects – talking to the engineer later, he told me that Jack had invested a lot of money in his lighting rig as he was keen that the show look professionally from early days. Money well spent in my opinion.

There were some proper screaming girl fans at the front of the stage which surprised me, but as the show progressed, I could see why Jack generates such dedication. His band were tight and extremely funky – I loved the more groovy numbers like ‘Triple tone eyes’ with lots of wahwah pedal and a ‘Shaft’ seventies feel, as did ‘No time’ which used the grid of lights at the back to form huge numbers constantly counting down at the back. Jack encouraged the audience to join in with the clapping during ’Goth in the disco’ and so the crowd went absolutely mad when the band left the stage at the end of the set.

Of course they came back on for an encore and Jack confessed, “It’s been a f**k of and unbelievable year”. Predictably, he had left his biggest number ‘Starz in their eyes’ till last, with it’s bouncy infectious beat, the whole room went bonkers, jumping and dancing around - it was one of those live music moments where the performer and audience seemed totally at one in their enjoyment (if that doesn’t sound like too much of a religious experience!). Jack certainly gave the impression of thoroughly enjoyed himself and I know I did – at the very end of the song, he left the stage saying “Thank you Bristol, you’ve been f**king wicked” and I thought we were too.