When I travelled to the Albany Deptford I had high expectations. I had seen Shingai Shoniwa perform twice with The Noisettes and two solo cameo performances with Yolanda Brown and Andrew Ashong. I knew that she was a born performer and had a stunning voice.
The Albany looked totally different inside compared to my last visit there in 2012. Downstairs was standing only with the stage in the centre of the floor.
There was an air of eager anticipation when Shingai was introduced at 9:00 p.m., we were told that she was really excited to be performing in Deptford, the intro music started and went on and on and on, at 9:15 she took to the stage by which time most of the audience were restless and noisy.. The show centred round music from her forthcoming EP ‘Ancient Futures’ a mix of almost every musical genre you can imagine, Jazz, Soul, Dance with a strong Afro beat and the occasional injection of punk and reggae.
Shingai was returning to a venue where she began to learn her craft as a child and was genuinely excited to be there. The performance was high energy and threatened to take off on several occasions especially when she performed Miriam Makeba’s ‘Ask the Rising Sun’ as she performed gymnastics on the balcony rail, showing what a strong voice she has. The songs from Ancient Futures gave ample opportunity for Shingai to demonstrate her athleticism and love for theatrics but did not stretch her vocally. I strongly believe that artists should be able to make the music they want to make and I respect Shingai for doing just that, however I will not be rushing to buy her EP but I hope it is a sucesss. On stage Shingai is gymnastic with many twists and turns, I suspect that her musical career will be a flexible!
For the second time in a few days I felt my age.
Johns London Music Reviews 