Some days are ordinary grey days,
but yesterday was an extraordinary day.
There was a glorious blue sky and
those small fluffy white clouds as I headed to South Kensington via bus and
tube and for a late lunch at the V & A café, where the pianist played under
the ornate Victorian rooftops.
2012 has
been a big year for Sande, not only did she get married, her debut album Our Version of Events was the top
selling album and went triple platinum in the UK. She has a
glowing warm stage presence with her large smile and her sincerity. I have seen
her perform at several of Glasgow's top venues -
the Oran
Mor, King Tuts and the Old Fruitmarket.
It felt very strange to be in such an iconic venue. I entered the hall via its Stage Door entrance for my Pass, where we waited.
Professor Green came in shortly after! I
shook his hand and said how much I enjoyed his big hit song with Emeli - Read All About It. Green had a beautiful
girl with him who looked like a model. I
took in the images on the walls – in particular one memorable image of Frank
Sinatra as he waved to his enthralled audience taken from the stage by
photographer David Redfern, I was in
awe!. I thought how hard it is now to get those kind of images with all the
restrictions imposed on photographers these days – only the first three songs,
no moving about etc. etc. I wished to
savour every moment knowing these were moments I would never forget.
I will never forget ascending the
narrow steps that entered the arena the theatre’s red and gold lights shimmered
above us, where there were the shadow outlines of people on the tiered circle
galleries as spotlights hovered and I feel I have now entered a realm of
fantasy, folklore, mystique and hidden memories.
Another
Emily, from New York
– an Emily King played as the support.
When Emeli
appeared in the shadows at the top of the dark steps we know she is a star in
the making. She savoured the experience, as she paused to take in the
atmosphere and those moments as she arrived on the iconic stage. The halls doomed arena offer perfect
acoustics for voices to reverberate and bounce into the air.
Sande began
with her distinctive song Daddy, which
was followed by Tiger and Where I Sleep. Then
the backing singers and band got a chance to shine with the refrain I Left My Heart in Pluto.
In the
middle of her set Emeli sat at the piano centre stage and said, 'This is where I know myself and where I am
raw.’ She started with the emotional Clown
and she said sometimes we all need to show the Clown in us. Next she sang her well loved song River. She said she’d had emotional responses to this song and that one
young girl who’d never been to a music concert before had said to her that
Emeli was 'her river of music.' Then she
sang a song by one of her main musical influences, Nina Simone, ‘I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free’ which
drew positive audience reactions.
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‘We should all speak up and use our
voices.’ Emeli said when she sang Read All About It: and the audience was delighted when Professor Green came on stage to perform for this
number one hit song. Emeli
returned to the stage in a red dress and with her song Wonder: a song full of light when she got the audience on their feet
Anything can be achieved if you have
love, when she spoke of
the support of her parents. Then she
sang her hit song Heaven that has
that danceable drum beat and soaring vocal. Labrinth then appeared to sing
their chart song Underneath Your
Beautiful. And for her encore she sang her touching Maybe, followed
by her rousing Next To Me.
Emeli makes the dream her own, but
she also takes us with her. This was one of my best days too.
Having followed Emeli's career for
five years since 2007, it is both strange and wonderful to see her now on the
Big Stage and called the Voice of 2012. I remember the intimacy of her Oran Mor gig and how
moving her voice was there.
THE
SET: Daddy,
Tiger, This is Where I Sleep, Breaking the Law, ( two new songs) My Kind of Love, Abide With Me, Clown, River,
Nina Simone’s How It feels to be Free, Read all About It, Wonder, Mountains,
Heaven, Maybe, Next to Me,
Proceeds to
the Princes Trust. The concert was being filmed for a DVD, photography was restricted, but the colours and vibe were awesome.
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