Supported by a superb five piece band and some of the best songs in the history of music, it would be fair to say that Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright should have had a fairly easy night winning over their Sydney Festival crowd for the “Sing The Truth” concert – an evening of passionate song that honoured the music and spirit of the great women of music (as the Sydney Festival guide so aptly describes it).
But for one reason or another, the crowd in attendance at the State Theatre last night did not walk into the room in a mood for celebration. So, layer by layer, the three magnificent ladies on stage had to work hard to strip away the reservations of the fairly shy crowd, and by the end of the show the audience was singing and dancing along, too. All it took was the magnificent Angélique Kidjo to run into the crowd and physically entice us the crowd to get out of their seats. But more on that later…
But this article isn’t going to be about the crowd, as they did nothing to dampen the spirits of the women on stage, rather the experience of witnessing one of the most beautiful, soulful and joyous celebrations of music I have seen in recent memory. The three women refer to one and other and sisters and definitely act as so on stage, hugging and embracing from start to finish. They love watching each other perform and they are getting the opportunity to sing songs they adore. They are three women of the same colour but from different backgrounds, all bringing with them a different voice, a different soul and a different take on the music at hand.
The show started out with “Soul Sister”, a song which gave each artist a chance to introduce herself to the crowd through song. The astonishingly talented Lizz Wright then moved into her own track, “(I’ve Got To Use My) Imagination”, aided by the other two women as backup vocalists. The rest of the performance would move between solo routines, duets and tracks that would feature each vocalist on a different verse – such as in the iconic “Both Sides Now”, the Joni Mitchell track that received what was perhaps the largest cheer of the night.
Other tracks included Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”, performed beautifully by Dianne Reeves, Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” (perhaps here as the Etta James version so as to keep the tradition of the night) performed by Dianne and Angelique, “32 Flavors” by Ani Difranco as performed by Dianne and Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution”, performed by Angelique.
It was a no frills show – the lighting was simple but effective, and the only thing on stage other than a musical instrument (and those playing them) were some flowers. But when you have a show that’s all about the voices on stage, what more do you need (Mariah eat your heart out – no costume changes here!). And boy, were they superb. As were the instrumentalists – who were all given their chance to shine – including a particularly fantastic female drummer (Terri Lyne Carrington).
And though there were three singers on the stage, we only had one preacher – and that was Angélique Kidjo. Her dance moves alone should have had us all on our feet from the moment she hit the stage! She spoke to inequality and racism, she spoke of the power of women in music, and sung with a power and a passion that was infectious. She also payed tribute to her inspiration, the legendary Miriam Makeba, in her track “Afrika”, which ended the main set and saw her dancing in the aisles with the previously quiet crowd.
Though it was a pity that the crowd wasn’t in a more celebratory mood, there wasn’t a face without a smile on it at the show’s end. It seemed that the crowd – notably older in general (which probably explains a lot) – simply wanted to sit down and enjoy the show, and though Angelique got them standing during “Afrika”, for the rest of the performance they were happy to enjoy and listen. And maybe that’s enough. I can only speak of how I myself experienced it, and that was definitely one full of emotion and celebration. It was a beautiful night of music, no matter how you wanted to enjoy it along the way. But here’s hoping tonight’s crowd gives these incredible ladies a bit more to work with.
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Sing The Truth has its final performance at The State Theatre tonight.
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/
Photo taken at Summer Sounds in the Domain by Jamie Williams.
