I’ve been vaguely aware of Beverley Knight for years, but she really came to my attention when she started to perform in musicals about a decade ago. I thought she was brilliant in Memphis, The Drifters Girl and Sylvia, and when the chance came to go and see her on her 50th birthday celebration tour, I had to take it.
Beverley was full of energy from the moment she came on stage and was still singing as she walked off at the end. I had hoped that she would sing some of the songs she performed so brilliantly in musicals. She didn’t – but she put on such a good show that in the end I didn’t mind.
The concert began with Greatest Day, followed by Made It Back: classic songs which set the tone for the evening to come. Beverley performed a number of songs from her new album, The Fifth Chapter (which I have now put on my wishlist), as well as some deeply moving ballads (including Fallen Soldier, a moving tribute to Stephen Lawrence). Towards the end of the night, Beverley treated us to her most memorable and popular songs, inluding Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda and the pop-infused Come As You Are. Arriving back on stage for a triumphant encore, she sang Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman and Prince’s I Wanna Be Your Lover, ending with Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.
If anything, Beverley sounds even better live than she does on CD. She’s a superb performer and comes across as a lovely person. I’m so glad I got the chance to attend her gig.
Setlist
- Greatest Day
- Made It Back ’99
- Systematic Overload
- A Little More Love
- Not Prepared For You
- Flavour of the Old School / Moving On Up (On the Right Side) / Get Up!
- Keep This Fire Burning
- Gold
- Cold World
- Fallen Soldier
- Sista Sista
- The Need of You
- I’m On Fire
- Shoulda Woulda Coulda
- Someone Else’s Problem
- Last One On My Mind
- Come as You Are
Encore
- I’m Every Woman
- I Wanna Be Your Lover
- Everything’s Gonna be Alright