Wednesday 5th NovemberThe Reverend Al Green brings sex music to the Royal Albert Hall...
...but first we had to endure the tame warblings of one of Britain's most popular (see also 'tedious') soul singers, Gabrielle. Once she had completed an extended (seriously, kill me) version of 'Dreams' it was time for the real fun to begin...
For those who don't know much about him, Memphis man Al Green has been on the soul and gospel scene since 1971, and I'm pretty sure that he and Marvin Gaye between them are responsible for the creation of at least 60% of the children born in the 1970's. At the age of 62 he continues to deliver his brand of sex music with the same power that he did even 30 years ago - the voice is still incredible, almost as impressive as his apparently incessant desire to get his end away with most of the crowd's female contingent. For a short, tubby man, dressed in a three piece suit with lilac waistcoat and tie to still have women throwing themselves at him, almost fighting one another to cop a feel of the big man, is testimony to the effect this man has had on the music world.
Playing down rumours that he had a funny turn in the dressing room before the gig, the Reverend Al paraded around the stage with his trademark bouquet of red roses, handing them out to women on the front rows, venturing further into the crowds to get a little extra loving (the security guards were on high alert as it looked like he might get mobbed at this point)
Serenading the crowd with big hits "I Can't Stop", "Let's Stay Together" and "Tired of Being Alone" to name but a few, we also heard a few tunes from his new album, unsurprisingly named "Lay It Down", which features guest appearances from the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend.
Not only that but Big Al found the time to include a few amusing life stories and sang a medley of songs from his own heroes, including The Temptations’ “My Girl”, Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home”, get in.
Finishing the hour-and-a-half long performance with Amazing Grace, we left the gig feeling very good about life and wanting to get it on with anything that moved.
Reverend Albert Green, we salute you.
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