Another oldie, and it stays on the site for the same reason as Bishopstock – and the chance of ever seeing the ‘King Of Rock’n’Soul live have long gone – sadly, he died in October 2010. Below is the original review of the London Barbican gig, written all the way back in November 2002. It all began a little cheesily – an opening two perfunctory jams by the competent, but not particularly exciting backing band and an oversized red throne centre stage, flanked by buckets of red roses, awaiting the great man. You knew he was big, but nothing really prepared you for the man mountain who finally made his way to centre stage.
But the real revelation of the evening was the reach and breadth of the voice. It had been 30 years since his last trip to Britain and although the recent CD “Don’t Give Up On Me” had given us all hope, there can’t have been many who weren’t shocked by the breath-taking quality of Burke’s voice. As soon as he kicked into ‘Cry To Me’, you knew that the man’s vocal ability had held together better than anyone had the right to expect.
The evening featured a balance of material from his extensive back catalogue and the new album, and every song was a performance – we got the preacher, the agony uncle and the philosopher, but soaring above it all was the singer. Happy to accommodate audience requests, Burke topped the night with impromptu guitar and voice snippets of favourites not included in the main running order (see set list), a truly memorable whistle stop tour of a great soul ‘portfolio’. But the set was in any case a fine balance of old and new, delivered with a voice that belied the years and peerlessly matched the reputation.
The concert climaxed with a ‘stage invasion’ by a significant proportion of the audience, quite fortuitous since the whole event was being filmed by a US television company! It felt a little vaudevillian, but Burke was by reputation a consummate showman throughout his heyday and he’s a showman still. And when you left the Barbican after the show, what stayed with you was the voice, the songs and the style of a truly great soul and R&B singer