A fearless performance from Michelle John which received a raucous response from a packed 606 audience.
A few years back when my wife and I first saw Michelle perform solo, it was immediately apparent that she had an amazing voice. At this gig she performed standards by legends such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner and Prince and each of them was sung to such a high standard that I feel she would have made these greats feel proud. Michelle sang three of her own songs too and these sat well alongside the standards.
The one downside of the night was that a small number of the audience showed total disrespect for Michelle by talking very loudly during her performance. The cacophony reached a crescendo during ‘ Priceless’ which is my favourite of Michelle’s own songs and it took the edge off of my enjoyment. 606 audiences are usually the best behaved audiences I’ve been a part of and hopefully this was an exception rather than a new trend.
Michelle has a voice that I would compare to a luxury car, she can sing gently to begin a song and then moves quickly and effortlessly through the gears to reach a level of strength reminiscent of Tina Turner but the clarity and tone worthy of comparison with Aretha Franklin.
The show started with ‘So Amazing’, included a 12 bar blues featuring George Wilkins on harmonica and included some Christmas songs too. My highlight was ‘Purple Rain’ on which David D’Andrade’s amazing guitar playing complimented Michelle’s stunning vocals.
Credit must be given to the rest of the magnificent band. Stefan Brown played drums but sadly I did not catch the names of the keyboard and bass players. A great night of entertainment.
Johns London Music Reviews 