Johnny Jewel – Sugar Club – Review

Johnny Jewel – Live at the Sugar Club – 16-11-23

Jorja Chalmers is known as a saxophonist with bands/ performers such as Bryan Ferry, Take That and the Ting Tings. She performed with two other musicians last night as support for Johnny Jewel. The band comprised a drummer, a keyboard player, and Jorja on vocals and various saxophones. The set was a mix of sounds and styles, but it was interesting to see how she slowly won over the audience throughout her time on stage. Her final song, a cover of Madonna’s Justify My Love got a huge reaction. Johnny later told us, this was Jorja’s first time as a ‘solo’ performer, and it bodes well for her future. She is signed to Johnny’s own label Italians Do It Better.

Jewel made his name as a member of the Chromatics, who split in 2021. Since that time, he has recorded a variety of work, including soundtracks to films and even music for fashion houses such as Chanel, Gucci, and Versace.

Johnny Jewel arrived on stage at 9.30, wearing a red suit, white shirt and an ankh on a chain around his neck. He was alone on stage but had a mass of electronic equipment with him, as he played various synths and drum machines.

The visuals were a large element of the show. Jewel played in front of a screen showing scenes and images from the various films he was involved with. They were a stylish reminder of where each piece of music started life and the videos were carefully edited in time with the music.

Jewel has a long-standing connection with director Nicolas Winding Refn on films such as Bronson (Digital Versicolor) and Drive, which both featured. There was also music from Lost River, Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut (Yes – Love theme from Lost River, Shell Game and Carousel). One of his most recent projects is the soundtrack for Fien Troch’s film Holly, and several songs featured from this album (including The Witch).

The piece that received the biggest cheer of the evening was Red Door, which featured images from Twin Peaks. Johnny appeared in Twin Peaks in 2017, as well as contributing to the musical score alongside Angelo Badalamenti.

At the end of the evening, Jewel described the event as an ‘experiment’, as an evening of music and visuals. The video element really lifted the night, making it into something quite unique. He finished the evening with a two-song encore, with Under Your Spell (from Johnny’s band Desire) finishing the proceedings.