James McCartney débute sa carrière scènique

PAUL McCARTNEY's son JAMES has always avoided the limelight.

Now, though, he's going to be blinded by it.

His band LIGHT made their live debut in front of just 30 people in a tiny boozer in Oxford on Wednesday night - and Bizarre deputy CARL STROUD was there.

And the 20 people left in the town's Jericho Tavern by the end of the 40-minute gig realised they had witnessed something very special indeed.

But no one other than Bizarre had any idea who he was. The quartet have gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the identity of their lead singer.

They played 11 songs in all - a mixture of full-throttle stormers and delicate acoustic numbers.

But the general sound is glossy, classic rock.

James has a way with melody and a set of pipes which are more than a match for his dad's. A song called Mix saw the band tear into a crunching, grunge workout which echoed NIRVANA.

"What does it mean?" shrieked James repeatedly.

Other highlights included the bright LITTLE RICHARD-aping rock 'n' roll of Main Star, which showed off the honeyed upper registers of the frontman's voice brilliantly.

Denial was a change of pace, with James strapping on an acoustic guitar for a dark ballad about a relationship turning sour. "I don't want your reasons, I don't want you really here," he sang.

And Cherry Blossom Hail Storm borrowed from the kind of psychedelic tune-making the Fab Four once revelled in.

But the highlight was I Love You Dad. Wonder who that one's about?

Advertisement

It was a simple and joyful tribute to his old man, powered by some nifty mandolin plucking underneath the repeated refrain of "I love you dad, I always will, I love you dad, You know I will".

The comparisons are going to be unavoidable but James, 32, has bided his time - THE BEATLES split when Paul was just 28 - and has emerged with a group who have a very bright future indeed.

He's a music veteran already, having co-written and played on tracks on his dad's albums Flaming Pie and Driving Rain.

Make your own mind up. Light play London venue The Fly next Wednesday.