Delays Can't Dampen the Soul of Duffy's All Points West Set

An almost 30-minute delay before Duffy's afternoon All Points West set had the crowd decked out in colorful vintage wayfarers barking out U.K. soccer chants, begging the show to start. Once the rain settled down, Duffy, in red patent-leather heels and a red-and-white striped tank, came out strong to the sounds of her debut album's title track, "Rockferry."

After posing like a bashful sailor girl, swinging her microphone cord and repeatedly pointing her finger to the sky, Duffy exclaimed, "l'm an awful dancer — I can't move to save my life." Turning to the audience, she begged for "Movement please!" as she broke into "Serious." She ultimately worked through nearly every track on Rockferry, including an incredible "Warwick Avenue," sultry "Stepping Stone" and "Delayed Devotion." Just as soon as the crowd began cheering when she broke into "Mercy," it was over.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter