Owen and I went to the always swanky Bush Hall to see and hear the honeyed vocals of Beth Rowley (Row as in arguing not something you do with a couple of oars - ahem!)
We saw her last year at the IndigO2 where she was the opening act on a bill headlined by Kiki Dee and this is what I thought of her "Imagine a Joss Stone without the hype and a liking for Billie Holliday. I really liked her, great voice, a couple of good songs and how good to hear a new Brit girl singer with a BIG voice - unlike the Mockney twitterings of the Allen and Nash bints". Since then she has recorded her debut album which is out in May. This was her first official headlining act and it bodes well for the future.She has a really great natural voice - a mixture of Etta
James, Rachel Sweet and Ronnie Spector - and has some great tracks: the Motown-y "So Sublime", the rolling "Oh My Life", "Angel Flying Too Close", "Almost Persuaded", "You Never Called" and "Beautiful Tomorrow". She sang a nice reggae version of "I Shall Be Released" and a soulful "I'd Rather Be Blind".If there is a problem with her it's that she is still hiding behind her hair, the microphone and her hands. It's nice to see that she still sees herself as a singer with a band but come on girl... it's time to step out into the spotlight.
The next evening was spent in the Vauxhall Tavern for a special performance at Vauxhallville of chanteuse Adele Anderson of Fascinating Aida fame. With names on the guest list and a free bottle of no-frills fizz thanks to Dawn Right Nasty (it's handy having a birthday sometimes) we were treated to Adele giving us a whirlwind recap of her life. Highly fictional sadly as lord knows she has a tale to tell!
I was hoping Adele might have treated us to "I'm Still Here" - she was a memorable Carlotta Campion in FOLLIES at the Landor Theatre in 2006 - but I guess Mr. Sondheim might have had his hand out. I enjoyed her tart but hugely entertaining show and it was nice to meet her afterwards.
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