Institute of Contemporary Arts

DAY NINETEEN: Beverley Knight and Raul Midon

Date: 19 July 2007

Beverley Knight

Oooh-eeee things were hot to trot on Thursday  - Madame Beverley made this one a Knight to remember, (I’m sorry you have to do it right?) and with the highly talented R&B prince Mr. Raul Midon as her sidekick,  the whole evening was soul swelteringly brilliant.

I knew things were going to be just grand when I saw lucky lottery winners sporting silver sparkly entry bands as they entered the ICA’s cosy theatre. The bands reflected the exclusive party mood of the evening and the effervescing excitement of fans about to see their favourite lady perform on stage. Everybody I spoke to told me how wonderful she is to hear live, something ‘you cannot hear from listening to her on CD’, and they were right. This lady is a performer through and through. She had the audience in her palm because of her astoundingly powerful, rich voice, (that voice!), and her ability to express every word and action so vividly that you could relate to everything she was saying. I felt the love possessed woman during her cover of Aretha Franklin’s Take Another Little Piece of My Heart and the excited energy of her classic, Greatest Day. I nearly wept during the broken and hurting song Gold, and felt once again empowered during Make It Happen - a song about recovery and getting back up again. Her complete hold on the audience had the crowds either listening intently to her soul ballads or yelling out ‘We love you Bev’ and ‘Go on Bev’ while singing and dancing, (and I mean actually dancing) to spunky celebratory songs like Saviour and the last of the encores, Come As You Are.

The other bonus of seeing Beverley live is her brilliant showmanship. Her entourage of 3 backing singers, three wind players and I don’t know how many keyboards and guitars created quite the musical show, and then there was her outfit. I know men won’t be so interested in this, (no, that’s rubbish, they will absolutely want to hear about it,) Beverley was looking hot in a kimono style dress (leopard coloured in a zebra print no less) with stunning snakeskin studded stiletto heels, and can I write this? Well, I’m going to: no bra. This was some outfit, and the slightest movement gave the audience a flash of her upper thigh - a revelation that seemed to culminate in her high kick at the end which one could only call a flash to the senses. Beverley was doing things in a sexy soul fashion indeed. Her sensual powers alongside a voice that reverberates into your soul made this one show to remember.

And it all started with Raul Midon. It would be impossible to forget this champion of soul. What a talent! This man absolutely retained the excited fizz that people entered in with, and added a little whiz bang pop all of his own. I read on his website that he wishes to spread, not preach,  goodness, and this he did with his own blend of soul, RnB, jazz and Latin flavoured music. He graced the audience with personally introduced songs of love, life and the human spirit alongside more timely pieces including a song that reflected on, (rather aptly considering the iTunes environment we were in), the modern computer age we are living in, ‘All the answers are right here in my living room and I don’t have to understand.’

We were then treated to happy songs that included Sunshine, a modern soul song in the same vein as an India Arie/Stevie Wonder track (both of whom he has collaborated with) and Everybody. These songs showed off his adeptness for the guitar, his beautiful, extensive vocal range and his ability to create percussive and instrumental sounds with his own hands and mouth! He can play guitar, sing, drum and create his own trumpet instrumentals while simulatneously making it look quite easy! Raul is obviously extremely musical and was able to improvise and vary his live performance with ease. Was the intro to Sunshine scored?  I doubted it, and I know Raul improvised sections of the extra songs he had to play after a gentleman came on stage and told him Beverly was delayed. I particularly enjoyed his extended embellished reprieve of the good feeling song State of Mind whose Buddhist themed lyrics proclaim ‘I don’t want to be rich, I want to be happy.. . It’s all a state of mind.’ By the end of Raul’s set people were crying out ‘Yeah baby we’re feeling you’ and we were. He made everybody feel as if ultimately, happiness is attainable to all, it just depends on how you choose to look at life. And all this from someone who himself is denied the gift of sight. Enough surely to make you raise your hat and listen up.

Torie Speyer