The Kingdom Choir gave an exhilarating performance to the delight of a packed Royal Albert Hall audience.
The last time my wife and I saw the Kingdom Choir perform was in December 2016 at the 606 Club. This concert, on the exact anniversary of their performance at the Royal Wedding, would have filled the 606 Club for more than sixty shows.
The show opened with a rendition of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ which segued into a version of Stormzy’s ‘Blinded By Your Grace pt2’. Wayne Hernandez then took the lead on Jon Legend’s ‘All Of Me’.
From the start the many voices of the choir sounded like a single voice with the strength of many. This was close to Gospel Choral Music perfection. Their voices created a feeling of joy amongst the audience.
Karen Gibson, the choir leader, introduced most of the songs and spoke of the whirlwind year that they have enjoyed since their Royal Wedding performance propelled them into the media spotlight.
They performed for two hours, showing their versatility and giving several choir members an opportunity to show their individual vocal talents. There is little doubt that every member is a highly competent solo singer but they all seemed happy to be part of this wonderful collective.
There was a beautiful medley of Aretha Franklin songs, one again illustrating that, although the Queen of Soul is no longer with us on earth, her music and memory will never die.
Karen Gibson gave her singers a brief break to give the St Anne’s Secondary School choir, from North London, an opportunity to perform on one of the world’s most iconic stages and they sang two songs confidently before they were joined by the Kingdom Choir for a version of John Farnham’s ‘The Voice’. Wayne Ellington and Stacey Skeete took the lead vocals on this number with the backing of over sixty voices.
The highlight of the show for me was a wonderful performance of the kingdom Choir’s own song ‘Chases’ on which Stacey Skeete took the lead. The covers they sang were superb but this song showed the choir’s harmonies at their best.
Toward the end of the show, the choir sang ‘Stand By Me’, the song that changed the lives of the choir, with Paul Lee singing the lead. This was followed by ‘Lullaby’ a song written by a choir member for the new royal baby. The choir left the stage after these songs and briefly Wayne Hernandez returned to the stage to lead the audience in the singing of some well-known gospel songs, he was soon joined by four more of the male vocalists, two of whom went up into the stalls to encourage participation.
The full choir then returned to sing ‘Lean on Me’ before taking their bows to rapturous applause.
The Royal Albert Hall has a great history and is my favourite larger venue, few artists get the chance to perform here, the Kingdom Choir seized their opportunity and gave a performance that will live long in the memory of both performers and their audience.
Johns London Music Reviews 