(The Real) Tuesday Weld
Fez, New York City, June 25, 2003
“(The Real) Tuesday Weld” is the name for British singer/composer Stephen Coates’ suave, playful, yet delicately emotional lounge act. It’s not a very good name; though he does slightly resemble the beautiful Ms. Weld, Coates’ sensibility isn’t as non-stop camp as that moniker suggests. True, as he sings into a hand-held mike in a soft, breathy voice that’s sincere and self-mocking by turns, he looks like he could be waving a cigarette and sipping on a highball in that early-60s, basement-nightclub boho way. But he doesn’t need any props—his tunes are lovely, Jobim-esque numbers and his witty, unpretentious lyrics surprised the hip-o-rama New York crowd (who are inclined to take this kind of thing seriously) into laughter many times.