Annie Lennox "LIVE"
Mermaid Theatre, London
192K
Text by: Betty Clarke
The Guardian, Friday 17 August 2007 18.58 EDT
It was not so long ago that Annie Lennox seemed to be the only British female singer in the world. A towering monolith in a trouser suit, polished, professional and always note-perfect, Lennox was the safest bet in pop.
But beneath the Oscar-grabbing poise and endless Brits success, Lennox was a reticent star. Plagued by nerves, she didn't embark on a solo tour until 2003, 11 years after her best-selling debut, Diva. A highlight of the uneven Live 8 charity shebang, she hasn't performed on a stage since.
For this tiny show, recorded for Radio 2, Lennox is accompanied by her band and the BBC Concert Orchestra. The first thing you notice is how young the 53-year-old looks. The second, how nervous she seems. Launching into Little Bird, her voice is as amazing as ever - soulful, rich and soaring effortlessly to a falsetto. She is also surprisingly sexy, singing with a hand on her hip; her slinky dress, worn over black trousers, revealing an impressive cleavage.
Lennox overpowers the orchestra, the brass section barely getting a look in during Walking On Broken Glass, the strings withering under a theatrical No More "I Love You's". Yet she's also as shy as she is undeniably charismatic. "This is a broadcast so we can do songs again and I can make jokes," she says. But she doesn't, instead walking off stage because of a technical hitch.
When she returns, she sits at a piano for a chilling version of Cold, before playing three new songs from her forthcoming album, Songs of Mass Destruction. While Dark Road and Smithereens are nice enough, the gospel soul of Ghosts is most memorable, especially when Lennox and her two backing singers are accompanied only by handclaps and a thudding bass drum.
On Sweet Dreams, the orchestra come into their own, the strings sharpening the biting synths. But it's not until Lennox has to repeat a couple of songs that she relaxes. Chatty, approachable and patient with a heckler, she's visibly looser on Here Comes the Rain Again, and bops about to Little Bird. With the orchestra significantly louder this time, the songs raise the roof. "That's how we do it!" Lennox squeals, punching the air and enjoying her moment at last.
· Broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on August 25, 2007
Replies
Wonderful!
D i t t o !
Annie is so great! ------------------------------------------- R
Thanks Rick!
Thank you
You're Welcome ------------------------------------------ R