Review: Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, The Duchess, York, Thursday (From York Press)

Review: Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, The Duchess, York, Thursday

12:06pm Saturday 4th February 2012 in Music news and reviews By Charles Hutchinson

Martha Reeves and The Vandellas

MOTOWN royalty at The Duchess? Yes, you read that correctly, Martha Reeves and her Vandellas were playing The Duchess of York, as she quaintly called the Stonebow live music bar.

This was the full soul revue package: a master of ceremonies cum musical director to give the grand dame a grand entrance; Martha in the full glitz and bling; two backing singers, one called Vanessa to put the Van into Vandellas; and a band supplemented by a local brass section, who had two hours of rehearsals earlier in the day to familiarise themselves with Martha’s catalogue.

Eleven on stage, more than 400 in the house (including a certain Mr David Guest), we were indeed in for a Heatwave.

Opening with Are You Ready (the perfect title to rev up an audience), Martha knew how to work a crowd; the Detroit diva has been doing it for 50 years and will have seen it all at 70.

Nowhere To Run came and went before singer and band had settled into a rhythm, but when the lights and sound suddenly cut out, Martha stood her ground, waiting for her moment, and the gig ignited as she burst into Jimmy Mack, the perfect comeback once someone had found 50p for the meter.

Martha liked to talk between songs, about her Motown past, about David Guest, Michael Jackson and Johnny Bristol; not that you could make out much because the incessant chatter among the crowd drowned it out.

This is becoming a problem at gigs, let alone its lack of respect for a Motown legend. Maybe it is time to join the STFU campaign (you can work out that acronym for yourself); maybe venue staff need to address the issue.

Thankfully, the singalong likes of Third Finger, Left Hand, Heatwave and of course Dancing In The Streets over-ruled the audience chit-chat but there really shouldn’t be such a struggle to be heard.