Hey shorty, it’s my birthday
That’s what I scribbled on the back of Ken’s old receipt as a note to pass on to Jamie Cullum at the Commodore Ballroom last night. Oh, and “(No, really. It is!)”
I clutched it in my hand tightly, heart pounding, wondering whether or not I had the guts to go through with it, because I’m old and chicken shit and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted the attention. (I did let my grip go a bit eventually cuz I didn’t want to hand him a sweaty note if I did decide to see it through.)
He launched into his performance before I had the chance to make a move, and it wasn’t until after about three songs that he stepped away from his grand piano and took the mic centerstage to make small talk with the sold-out crowd. At the encouragement of Emily (Girl, what would I do without you?), I quickly slid the note in front of his feet and the two of us tapped him on his sneaker to get his attention.
Jamie looked down at us and picked up the piece of paper. “I’m not going to pay your bar bill,” he joked as he started unfolding it. “Nooo,” I shook my head. “Check the other side!” Then he read it outloud, “Hey shorty, it’s my birthday.” I laughed, a little embarrassed and a little pleased. And then he said to me, “Aww, that’s nice. Well, happy birthday!” I thanked him. “That’ll be a hundred dollars,” he deadpanned, holding out his hand for the payout. I laughed again and he crouched down and opened his arms to give me a hug. Then gave me a big, wet kiss on my cheek!
That totally made the night for me. Of course, his energetic presence and charisma definitely carried the show. He played non-stop for two hours, jumping, hollering, banging, beatboxing, and singing at the top of his lungs. I was amazed at how he managed to maintain his vocals for so long. Dood has one stamina-riffic set of pipes. He divided the audience to sing out the saxaphone and trumpet parts during These Are The Days and Next Year, Baby, too.
My favourite part, aside from him wishing me happy birthday (duh!), was not when he did Frontin’, or High and Dry or even Lover, You Should’ve Come Over. Though they were all incredible, they did not give me the same giddiness and glee as when he covered SexyBack and Don’t Cha (And ad-libbed, “Don’t cha wish your boyfriend was short like me?” Hee!), AND did a mash-up of Miss Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone with some Charlie Parker (Inspired by a dream he had that involved the two of them). I am such a sucker for covers, but I guess that explains why I love Jamie Cullum so.
There was no setlist to grab sadly, but otherwise, not a bad way to end my 24th year and kick off my 25th year on earth, if I do say so myself!