Friday Night is Music Night Live – Sage Gateshead

So, okay, it was a Wednesday night and it wasn’t going on the radio but after the success of a recent Radio 2 show featuring Beverley Knight singing the songs of Stevie Wonder, it was such a successful show that they decided to tour it around the country. To be honest, I could just stop now and say 10/10 and I’m sure you’d trust me, after all, Stevie Wonder is as talented a song writer as Lennon or McCartney ever were and it’s amazing to think that they were all making this amazing musical legacy around the same time. Beverley Knight, a woman with over 2 decades of success in her own right delivered one of the most energetic performances I’ve ever seen at Sage Gateshead, she never stopped, not even for a moment, she barely drew a breath and she never missed even one single note. I don’t know how she does it but to be at the top of your game like last night is a very special thing indeed. All Stevies greatest hits were there, everything from “Uptight” to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, all of those “bangers” as Beverley Knight called them. As well as some of the greatest ballads of all time including a heartbreaking performance of “Lately” where I found myself in tears and which produced the first standing ovation of the evening just a few songs into the performance. The show I’d seen the night before, All You Need Is Love was something I described as an experience but if that was an experience then last night was a party. Something I’ve noticed over many years of writing about concerts at Sage Gateshead is that it’s one of the hardest things in the world to get the audience of Sage One out of their most comfortable seats and on to their feet dancing but Miss Knight et all had so such problems with the whole audience up on their feet for all of the quicker numbers. The peak of the night for me was towards the end of the first half when Miss Knight was joined on stage by none other than Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics, a hero of my teenage years and man, can that guy play the guitar. His performance not only added to the party atmosphere but it’s the sign of a great concert when the special guest stays in the audience of the second half to enjoy the concert themselves. Another notable attendee I spotted was our very own local legend, Joe McElderry of Xfactor and Joseph fame, clearly as much of a fan of the music of Stevie and Beverley as we were in the row behind. At the end of the second half, as an encore, Miss Knight performed a medley of her own music, a rousing performance of “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda” amongst her various amazing hits and she ended on “I’m every woman” which really, as an anthem summed up the most wonderful evening I’ve had in my many years of writing about music. Beverly Knight really is every woman and if you have the chance to see her perform, you really should go without hesitation. Stevie Wonder continues to be one of the best singer/songwriters of all time. Thanks for reading,

InNewcastle

This was a guest post by Mandy Charlton on behalf of InNewcastle.co.uk Want us to review your show, event or venue then EMAIL and get in touch and Follow me on the socials:

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