Paolo Nutini Shows Ragged Charm

Paolo Nutini's sold-out show at The Opera House on Friday night smothered the audience in more heat than the sticky, summer air.

Playing to a room full of swooning, young girls, the Scotland-born singer's hour-and-a-half performance featured songs from his recently released second album, Sunny Side Up and his 2006 These Streets debut. The response to Nutini's new brand of reggae/folk music was emphatic, but it was his blues-pop love songs from his debut that drove his fans most wild.

Two singer/songwriters kicked off the night. Matt Hires was a satisfying opener to the show, as his sweet acoustic melodies carried through The Opera House loud and clear.

Although the majority of the crowd decided small talk was more important than listening to his deeply heartfelt tunes, Hires persevered and proved with the help of his guitar and impressive whistling abilities, he could sing above the crowd's clamour with a voice akin to R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe.

Near the end of his set, a slowed down, reflective cover of MGMT's "Kids" finally silenced the audience as he whistled his way through the opening melody with ease.

The anticipation for Nutini grew as more people piled into the venue. Appeasing the impatient crowd, Nashville's Erin McCarley was relaxed and glowing on stage.

McCarley was backed by her guitar and her pianist/beatboxer and played catchy, piano-driven songs that switched from charmingly poppy to seriously soulful. McCarley received loving cheers from the crowd when she explained this was her first time in Toronto, genuinely adding, "So far, so great."

The wait for Nutini was on the verge of becoming agonizing as the crowd watched a handful of soundcheck guys for 40 minutes, seemingly doing nothing but ensuring there were an appropriate number of unscrewed water bottles and beers for each band member. Luckily, a couple of booers in the audience were hushed by a "Paolo" chant and the band members finally took their places.

Screaming young girls expecting to see a lively 22-year-old heartthrob bust out into the lights may have been confused by a hunched, frail-looking man who dragged his feet towards the mike. Nutini was dressed in a silk vest over a white dress shirt, tucked into baggy black pants as if determined to appear elderly. Rather than achieve the sophisticated, mature look he seemed to be going for, Nutini looked disheveled and weary.

But fans' confusion quickly passed once he started singing "New Shoes" and dancing swept through the crowd. Maintaining his bent-over stance, Nutini began to look less like an old man and more like an artist attempting to give his all until it hurt.

His passion became more apparent with "Alloway Grove," a song about being obsessively in love with a girl. Nutini executed the repeating lyric, "I'll love you more and more" with so much emotion that his body started convulsing uncontrollably.

The effortlessly smooth and youthful sound that's so familiar on his albums successfully shone through his ragged frame, and after revealing flashes of a devilish smile, fans had fully adapted to Nutini's presence.

There was a stark contrast between some of his early love ballads and songs like "10/10" from Sunny Side Up, which puts the reggae-driven trumpet into the foreground. Trumpeter Gavin Fitzjohn didn't shy away from strutting around the stage, engaging in a playful exchange with the guitarists.

Nutini's backing musicians loyally supported him throughout the show and picked him up when he was clearly exhausted from playing one passion-driven song after another.

Nutini was left solo onstage for "These Streets" and fumbled the beginning and had to restart the song. But instead of allowing the minor glitch to put him down, the singer's weakness was overlooked when his bandmates rejoined him again onstage, smiling comfortingly as if saying, "We're here for you, man."

Although he was in need of their support, it was clear the band followed Nutini 's lead. They would promptly follow his demands in between songs if Nutini wanted something tweaked.

Giving his old man hunch a rest, Nutini decided to entertain his band mates by pretending he was the conductor of a symphony, wearing a relaxed expression of satisfaction while lightly moving his fingers in the air to the sound of their guitar melodies. The guys giggled it off, no doubt secretly pleased they were meeting Nutini's standards.

At the climax of his performance, Nutini drenched "Loving You" with so much sexual fervor that two fans felt the need to materialize their love for him by partaking in a bra-flinging frenzy.

A hot pink bra was tossed in the air, gracefully landing around Nutini 's mike while the band regrouped backstage before playing a few more songs. Nutini was not at all surprised by the act of sexual devotion as if these things happen regularly at shows, and he shrugged it off while continuing to play the last few songs.

With his once light beige vest turned brown with sweat, Nutini managed to finish the show off with a few encores including the most popular, "Jenny Don't Be Hasty."

Although Nutini went blank at the beginning of the song and forgot a line or two, none of his fans seemed to blame him. Having a raw passion that was constant throughout the performance, matched by a sex appeal that radiated through a sloppy appearance, Paolo Nutini left fans feeling giddy with pleasure.