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Live Review
by SashaS
25-10-2001
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| As sound as a picture |
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Live: Alicia Keys
Scala, London
Wednesday, October 24, 2001
Alicia Keys show confirms the arrival of a new Diva-babe
If you like your music wide-ranging, diverse but sprinkled with sexy poise, then you should look no further than Alicia Keys. Her club-date in London was a treat as the lady is about to explode on the global stage after conquering her native America to the tune of 3 million albums sold in few short months. It was a show bursting with quality, confidence and, alike Kelis, with sex-ttitude.
This rapidly emerging Diva-babe from New York simply enchants everybody with a performance that really proves that if you love music for real then you can passionately affect everyone. Dressed in a black leather coat and matching flat-cap, Keys led her band into more cross-genres than are featured on her debut album ‘Songs In A Minor’.
There were snatches of classical pieces, plenty of funk, soul, R’n’B, rap, even rock and pop… You name it and she’s taken it onboard to stamp it with her own personality, all delivered with an apparent ease, a consummate woman… pardon, professional at work. Alternating piano-playing with fronting musos by commandeering the stage, she sang out the proverbial heart.
Keys does possess a mean apparatus in these vocal chords but she is economical with it: she can obviously do the Diva-trademarked voice-acrobatics but she avoids it to concentrate on performing songs rather than exhibiting her skills. And the tunes come fast and thick, from the blistering ‘Rock Wit U’, via ‘Troubles’ and, the album’s only cover, Prince’s ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me’ to the infectious, soon-to-be-hit, ‘Fallin’’.
She stops songs half-way, like ‘Jane Doe’ (funny that you can easily sing ‘J-Lo’ instead), tells a story before performing ‘Girlfriend’, calls to the audience to respond by gender… The males fail at first due to being too mesmerised or too clued on her fine figure and cleavage… Encoring with Roberta Flack’s song she simply demonstrated that Lauryn Hill might be yesterday’s news.
Alicia Keys is 20, talented, a babe… Some girls have all the luck. Recommend exercising is to learn chanting her name, as we’ll have to very soon in those huge places like Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Arena. The congregation present tonight was treated to a sonic ball that floored us all to stagger into the night feeling spellbound.
SashaS
25-10-2001
Alicia’s Keys album ‘Songs In A Minor’ is out now on J Records/BMG
AK's single 'Fallin'' is out 29 October 2001 on J Records/BMG
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