Gladys Knight is back on the Midnight Train to Georgia, seven years after her farewell tour and at the age of 72.
It was clear her fans approved of her u-turn, going wild as soon as the Georgian-born self-proclaimed Empress of Soul stepped onto the stage via a fitting red carpet.
Yes, she might be the age of your Mum or your Nan or ‘grown up’ as she puts it, but the evening proved she still posses the same powerful majestic voice that made Gladys Knight and the Pips one of Motown’s greats, a voice which had the rich tone of experience, even from the beginning, and having been in the business for most of her life, she sure knows her craft and could teach today’s performers a thing or two having made a career as a persistently good singer, making regular references to passing on her wisdom to her five-piece band and four backing singers, who she lovingly refers to as ‘family’.
And love was indeed the theme of the night throughout. A petite figure on the stage, Ms Knight drew so much adoration from her fans who roar with support as her warm Southern charm brims over. Shouts of ‘I love you Gladys’ were returned with ‘I hear ya, I love you too’. in fact she frequently told us how much she loved us and love itself, confiding that she was an old romantic at heart.
Opening the show with a medley of All I do, Shake Your Body and Nitty Gritty she sounded every bit as phenomenal as she did in her heyday
‘We’re gonna go back and get some thangs’ she proclaims, referring to her back catalogue and favourite covers which followed. Incredible vocals roared through a phenomenal set of her classics, smouldering on You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me, Love Overboard, Heard it Through The Grapevine, breathing new life into her powerful Eighties Bond theme and a spine tingling version of The Way We Were before she demanded we all “be my Pips” for heartfelt version of Midnight Train to Georgia. Kicking life and emotion into covers of Sam Smith’s Stay with Me and a Lionel Ritchie/Adele Hello medley.
Gladys can be forgiven for name dropping, for her stories of working with the all-time past greats and her mentors were fascinating, punctuating as they did her covers of some of her friends.
Joined by her backing singing for the penultimate number Ms Knight blew the roof off the Royal Concert Hall with a medley of songs as a tribute to Prince. There wasn’t quite the same reaction for the gospel finale. But she certainly made her own mark as pop royalty.
By Tanya Raybould
Editor
@tanyalouiseray
