Smith has a voice and style that's clearly influenced by Martyn, but vocally he reminds me more of Ben Ottewell (Gomez) with occasional bursts of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder - this is perhaps unsurprising given that Ottewell himself has been compared to Vedder. Impressive as Smith's vocal and musical talents are it's his charisma that makes him come across as well as he does on stage. Between songs he joked with the audience and thankfully doesn't take himself too seriously. After his first song he commented on how nice it was to play at a venue where the crowd were visible: "We were in Milton Keynes the other night - have you seen Milton Keynes? It's like Dawn of the Dead down there!". Later in the set he burst into The Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy", and enthusiastically told us how pleased he was to have figured it out. He conveys an enthusiasm and warmth that's refreshing in a young artist, particularly one as talented as Smith clearly is. Following his set I rushed over to the merchandise stall to grab a copy of his CD, and got the opportunity to tell him how good I thought his performance had been. He seems like a nice guy in person, and I hope to see him on stage again soon. He's supporting Robert Cray in a few days; now there's a line-up...
And so to the main act: The last time I saw John Martyn was in the BBC documentary Johnny Too Bad. This was filmed a few months before and after what must have been a life changing operation: due to an infected cyst, John's right leg was amputated below the knee. During the documentary, John looked surprisingly well for a man who's been as unwell as he has. At every gig, moments before the artist you are about to see appears on stage, you construct a mental image of them. The mental image I had was of the John Martyn in the BBC documentary; these days the reality is shockingly different. In the years since the BBC documentary, he's gained a massive amount of weight. He was helped onto the stage, lowered himself into a chair that only moments before had been cautiously tested to ensure it would take his weight, and an assistant handed him his guitar. I was initially shocked; this man was so different to the image in my head, how could he possibly sound like the John Martyn I knew? Was he still the good-natured man the BBC had portrayed him as being?
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