Nutini unveils new sound at the Wiltern

The Wiltern Theater might not have been completely sold out on the evening of Sept. 27, but that didn’t stop Paolo Nutini from giving it his raucous best. The Scottish 27 year old brought a rousing two-hour performance to L.A. concertgoers this past weekend. Though he is perhaps most famous in the States for his upbeat “New Shoes” (with it’s catchy refrain: “I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything is right”) the Paolo Nutini that greeted fans this Saturday seemed to have shelved the chipper sound from his first album, hid away the sophomoric beats from his second and paved way for the entirely new sound of Caustic Love, his third album, which blends soul, pop and alt-rock, peppered with numerous allusions and references. 

Opening for Nutini was the Wisconsin-born PHOX — a dreamy, lyrical seven-piece band front-lined by singer Monica Martin, the only woman of the group. Despite the fact that the back of the audience talked through most of PHOX’s set, Martin held her own as her bandmates chimed harmoniously on a keyboard, bass, drums, electric guitars and the occasional (and extremely well-placed) French horn. While crooning out “all this leisure has got me tired,” it became clear the group’s mix of sounds reminiscent of Fleet Foxes, Feist and Grizzly Bear were a far cry from what the audience had paid to watch, yet they provided a well-chosen contrast to the bouncing, clapping, preaching new Nutini they were about to see.

Slinking onto the stage with his characteristically unkempt hair and an untucked white button-down shirt, Nutini was joined by The Vipers, a group with several guitar players, a drummer and a back-up female singer — all of whom Nutini thanked graciously and profusely at the end of the show. Channeling moments of Al Green, Nina Simone, Bob Marley and Rod Stewart, Nutini proved his weight in the variation between his upbeat, crowd-summoning anthems and his romantic, tortured, sorrowful love ballads. “Diana” and “Better Man” seemed to be his most heartfelt and personal songs of the night — both appeared to be about women whom he has both loved and learned from. Yet, Nutini also escaped from the ballad arena to find a moment to sing the beautiful, rasping “Iron Sky” — where he descended into an almost gospel-like sermon about salvation, freedom and life while sampling a speech from Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 film The Great Dictator that states: “You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men … You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful.” As he sang, Nutini crouched down to the ground, recreating someone in pain, and then sprung up as if suddenly consumed with the beauty of living. He continued bouts of these exaggerated movements throughout the show, which was perhaps the only thing off about his entire performance. For several of the songs, he seemed to want to explain exactly what he was singing about. He’d mug a sad face when singing about sadness or point out to the crowd when crooning “you” during his ballads; these moments of literal communication weren’t needed in a show filled with already clear and lyrical yet poetic imagery.

Yet, Nutini’s real adeptness as a performer came in playing with the audience, especially with the females in attendance. After finishing the first up-tempo song of the night called “Scream (Funk My Life Up),” Nutini took a breath and told the audience, “This song is for a special someone in my life.” As women catcalled and screamed in ripples throughout the audience, Nutini raised the mic to his lips, smiled and added, “my mother.” To which, of course, the audience went wild. He then sang “Someone Like You” — a short and sweet song made beautiful by “ooohs” and “ahhhhhs” from The Vipers reminiscent of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons while keeping Nutini’s trained yet appropriately rough Scottish voice ringing clearly at the forefront.

At one point Nutini asked the audience, “Are you sick of new songs?” apparently gauging the fact that his two major hits, “New Shoes” and “These Streets,” were missing from the lineup. Of course, he did revisit some old hits, most notably “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty” and “Pencil Full of Lead,” the former of which was almost unrecognizable in a reworked rendition. Ultimately, the reworked oldies showed Nutini’s great departure from his past. Yet, he still finished the night with the dizzyingly beautiful “Last Request” — a ballad from his first album that plucked the heartstrings of most everyone in the room that night.