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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
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Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
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London,
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Description: The Lily-Allen approved acoustic guitar wielding hip-hop performer plays an XFM show. Free via www.xfm.co.uk
Phone: 0844477 2000
Website: www.islington-academy.co.uk
Email: mail@islington-academy.co.uk
Trains: Tube: Angel 
, Tube / Bus: 4, 19, 30, 38, 43, 56, 73, 153, 214, 274, 341, N19, N38, N43, N73 
Extra info: Pub
Rising star: Jamie T inspired devotion at the Islington Academy
Pleasing a crowd consisting of tight-jeaned indie scenesters, lager-swilling rude boys and gold-chained wannabe gangstas is never going to be an easy task. When undertaken by a 21-year old skinny white boy from Wimbledon clutching an acoustic bass guitar, you begin to fear for the worst.
Yet therein lies the charm of young Jamie Treays. He is not particularly indie, or folk, or reggae, or hip hop, yet manages to blend all these styles and more into a single verse better than most artists can manage on an entire album.
Thin as a rake and with a sky-scraping unruly quiff, to the uninitiated at Islington Academy he may well have looked like a ragamuffin stage invader. With a smirk and a West London twanged "good evening" he raced through opening number Brand New Bass Guitar, accelerating faster and faster towards a full-blooded rock out. Beer was thrown and moshing ensued, and this barely one song in.
Switching between acoustic bass, electric guitar and simply rapping, Jamie's confidence grew noticeably with every tune. When deprived of an instrument, he at first looked pensive and awkward, but as the roar of approval grew louder he stalked the stage like a whippet-thin rapping idol, hands in the air, throwing shapes with reckless abandon.
Dispensing briefly with his backing band, The Pacemakers, Jamie went back to his early days to perform a solo Back In The Game. "It's been a while," he muttered afterwards, but you certainly wouldn't have known it and the biggest cheer of the night so far confirmed the crowd's approval and bodes well for his impending jaunt around the country.
Since those early acoustic shows, performing to sparse crowds in small pubs, Mr T's star has risen considerably. Recent singles Calm Down Dearest and If You Got The Money incited even more frenzied devotion from the swarm of dancing disciples, and in turn Jamie and his band clearly fed off this.
Towards the end of the set, he ventured to touch hands with the front row like a guttersnipe Bono at his own private Live Aid, eventually grabbing one to dance around onstage throughout Salvador.
Lyrically, there have been inevitable comparisons to the likes of Mike Skinner and Arctic Monkeys. Yet couplets such as "Bang, bang Anglo Saxons at the disco, ah tishoo, we all fall down" display a level of wordplay far beyond his contemporaries. His mix of cliché and slang is in fact far more reminiscent of Ray Davies or Joe Strummer.
With a sound that is completely his own and debut LP, Panic Prevention, pending, 2007 could well be Jamie T's year. In an industry fast drowning under the weight of rip-offs and re-hashes, he should be applauded.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
The gig was really good, have seen him a few times now and this was the biggest venue but that made the atmosphere even better. I particularly enjoyed 'If You Got The Money' and 'Calm Down Dearest' and really look forward to seeing him again.
- Dean, Wimbledon
I really fortunate to get a hold of tickets for this show and was so glad I did! I was the first time I'd seen him and it was great to hear the tracks live. The only thing that ruined it a bit was the crowd at the front but otherwise it was a great night a I'm off to go buy the album now!
- Luke, Hackney
