JADAR

★★★★☆

Whilst Beverley Knight MBE is best-known to my generation as a wonder of the West End, she began her career as a soul songstress. She has prioritised her musical theatre career in recent years, but she decided to mark her 50th birthday with a return to her origins.

Following the release of her ninth studio album, The Fifth Chapter, Beverley has embarked on a huge UK tour, aptly titled 50, which serves not only to celebrate five fabulous decades on this earth but also to remind us how ridiculously good she looks for her age!

Her first album in seven years and her first collection of original material in fourteen years, The Fifth Chapter is a departure from Beverley’s signature soft, soothing, soulful sound. It’s very much a modern record, embracing dance and disco, whilst still having a Beverley Knight essence. For the first time in her career, Knight has relied on songwriters, rather than writing the material herself. Indeed, the songs feel less personal, but Beverley succeeds at bringing them to life and making them her own – a skill she perfected in musical theatre.

Beverley’s opening act was American Idol‘s Casey McQuillen. She floated her way onstage and introduced herself with passion and excitement.

“I come out with a lot of energy – glittery boots, blue dress – and that’s because my songs are depressing. Life’s about balance. This song is called ‘Dying,’” she said hilariously.

She told us that the next song, ‘How Love Begins,’ is a rare song of hers which is not depressing. It was featured on the American reality TV series Temptation Island. She wasn’t sure she wanted the song to be associated with something so crass – but then she found out how much they were paying and she figured art was subjective! She told us that this live performance allowed her to reclaim the song.

Following the beautiful ‘Hold Me’, she sang the emotional ‘Skinny’, which references her pandemic weight gain. She poetically said that gaining weight during the pandemic was like gaining weight overnight. After a heartfelt monologue, she began playing music before hilariously stopping and telling us that she feels amazing in her body, to applause from the adoring audience.

Her penultimate song was Glen Miller’s ‘At Last’, best-known for its Etta James Cover – which Casey sings at all live performances. She ended her set with ‘In & Out’.

Casey has bundles of personality which perfectly contrasts her heavy music. I have seen some opening acts with splendid voices but not enough confidence or personality to entertain a crowd unfamiliar with their music. Casey, however, gripped the audience with her hands as soon as she stepped foot onstage and she did not let go until the end of her set – not that she needed to; we were all transfixed.

I was sat amongst her Manchester family who were super proud to see her doing her thang.

After Casey left the stage, DJ Munro entertained the audience with mixes of dance and disco classics. He is a fixture of Beverley shows. After Casey’s soothing set, it was great to get us in the mood for Beverley’s groovy music with some club bangers.

Beverley wore a shiny black, white and mesh leotard, like some sort of superhero. It was very modern and signified her determination to stay relevant but I’m not sure it suited the vibe. Her new era is all about glamorous golden dresses, and she had an entire segment dedicated to slow songs; the leotard look, though fierce, felt a bit out of place.

Musically, she was on point, supported by a live band and backing singers.

She wisely opened her set with a couple of her classics (‘Greatest Day’ and ‘Made Ut Back ’99’), winning the audience over with the songs they came to see performed live before singing a few songs from her new album. She then took us right back to the very beginning and sang her debut single, ”Flavour of the Old School’, in a medley with two other golden oldies: ‘Moving On Up (On the Right Side)’ and ‘Get Up’.

She kept the bops coming with her hit cover of Robyn’s ‘Keep This Fire Burning’ (by far, my favourite Beverley song). That song is supposed to be sexy but methinks it sounds stalkerish and low-key satanic – and I absolutely love that!

That was a perfect way to end a fiery first segment. Beverley then left the stage and came back with a fur scarf attached to her sleeves.

The next segment was much slower. It allowed us to appreciate the majesty of her voice.

She cleverly began the slow section with her hit song ‘Gold’, before singing a new song. She told us that the next couple of songs were dedicated to the late Paul Reed, her former Musical Director. She began with a track from her third album before singing her hit song ‘Sista Sista’ and a track from her second album.

It was nice that she sang a few lesser-known songs from her earlier albums; this allowed the show to be a real celebration of her entire music career. Personally, I would have loved it if she had sang ‘Till I See Ya’ from her fourth album, which I suddenly fell in love with during my bus journey!

She then lifted the mood with a more upbeat song from her new album – ‘I’m on Fire’, which she recently performed on Strictly – before singing the song that everybody had been waiting for: her signature song, ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’.

She added a couple more songs from her new album – some might complain that she sang a few too many new songs – before ending the set with her highest-charting single, ‘Come as You Are’. A feel-good banger, it had the entire audience boogieing with joy.

Beverley finally had a costume change for the encore: she wore a one-shoulder black dress with a fur trim around the bottom and on the sleeve. It was simple but stylish.

The three-song encore was opened with ‘I’m Every Woman’, a staple of Beverley’s shows. Originally recorded by Chaka Khan, it was covered by Whitney Houston for The Bodyguard. Beverley, of course, played the iconic Rachel Marron in the West End.

It’s a real shame that she only sang one song from her illustrious musical career – especially with many people (especially my generation) being more familiar with her work in theatre. She finally won an Olivier Award this year (as the programme mentions – more than once!) yet she decided not to address her musical theatre career during the concert. She referred to ‘I’m Every Woman’ as a “Chaka” song and did not mention that she sang it in The Bodyguard – though she had mentioned this when I saw her open for Enrique Iglesias.

It almost felt like she wanted the concert to be a celebration of her “serious” music career, dismissing her musical theatre success – but this renders this present era not a celebration of her 50-year career, as advertised, but rather a music comeback.

The penultimate song was a cover of Prince’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ and the final song was the final song from her new album: ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’. She extended the track for the live performance, with an a cappella verse and the whole band, backing singers and even the opening acts joining her upfront for the final chorus. As she left the stage, she sang the song a cappella. It was a joyous, riotous finale.

It’s bold to end the concert with a new song but ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ is such a groovy, feel-good number that one need not know it to shimmy along.

Vocally, Beverley was on top-form, and the stage, though not striking, looked good: white steps, a second level, and the band spread out. But the cool, funky vibe of the new era, and all of the camp, fabulous photoshoots, had me hoping for something bigger – at the very least, a few costume changes.

Some other divas similarly wear just one costume for the entire show (often with a costume change for the encore) but they tend to wear different outfits for each concert (e.g. Shania Twain’s current tour), which is pretty exciting: I wonder what she’ll be wearing today! But Beverley appears to be wearing the exact same costume at each concert which feels a bit thoughtless.

Similarly, neither outfit is all that striking – nothing like the Goddess-like costume she recently wore on Strictly, which perfectly captures the majestic vibe of this era.

The setlist is a nice mix of old and new material, with a couple of lesser-known old album tracks which presumably mean a lot to Beverley, but the setlist could definitely omit one or two of the newer songs. If Beverley did not want to sing multiple songs from her musical theatre catalogue, she could have at least sang a musicals medley.

Lea Salonga, one of the best-known stars in musical theatre history, mixed things up with her recent tour: she condensed all of her well-known songs and hits into a medley, allowing her to sing other songs (artists must get bored of having to sing the same songs all the time) but also giving the fans what they really want.

Granted, most people in the audience were probably more familiar with Beverley’s music career than her musical theatre career but Beverley has starred in several jukebox musicals (The Bodyguard, Memphis, Cats, The Drifters Girl) and some well-known musicals with iconic songs (Cats, Sweet Charity, Sister Act) which many people will be familiar with and would love to hear live.

Criticisms aside, this was a fun, feel-good, fabulous concert. Beverley gets better with age, and it’s great to see her singing her own material again. She has cemented her legacy as the Queen of British Soul – long may she reign!

Beverley Knight tours the UK until November 14 2023 and then again on June 23 and from September 19 to 26 2024.