civic theatre - darlington
northern echo - june 2010
Some performers stand in a league all of their own – and Elkie Brooks is one of them. Now celebrating half a century in the music business, she wowed a heaving Civic theatre as she belted out hits from her back catalogue, including Fool if You Think It’s Over, Sunshine After the Rain, Don’t Cry Out Loud, Lilac Wine and Pearl’s a Singer.
At 65, Elkie looks and, more importantly, sounds fantastic. Her versatility is stunning and she moved with ease from blues to rock to jazz and back again, electrifying the audience as she did so. Indeed, Miss Brooks doesn’t simply deliver a song she makes love to it, caressing the lyrics and sensuously teasing out raw emotion from every line.
Never an artist to just bask in the glory of her past successes, Elkie also introduced the audience to a couple of songs from her brand new album. The hauntingly beautiful Why and the title track, Powerless, are not just two exceptionally brilliant ballads, but also proof that Elkie Brooks just keeps getting better and better and testament that she still has one of the best voices in the business.
- Steve Burbridge
bewdley festival - bewdley
kidderminster shuttle - october 2010
From the moment she appeared to rapturous applause, Elkie demonstrated her complete command of the stage, her band, her unique voice and the audience.
This tour may be celebrating her fiftieth year in music but she is no mere survivor.
Throughout the show, whether singing jazz, blues or old favourites such as Lilac Wine or Pearl's a Singer, she was, amazingly, performing even better than ever.
She, herself, announced that she is still learning and improving, to which we all roared our approval. As we also did when she demonstrated her vocal power by holding notes for impossibly long periods, and her physical stamina by holding the microphone and stand high above her head.
Credit must also go to her band saxophonist Steve Jones, vocalist Lee Noble, Michael Richardson on drums, keyboard player Andrew Murray, guitarist Melvyn Duffy and Brian Badhams on bass guitar.
- CAS
palace theatre - newark
nottingham post - november 2010
The theatre was packed for Elkie Brooks' 50th anniversary tour when it dropped in on Newark - and rightly so.
Accompanied by her five-piece band she delivered a full two hours from her impressively wide repertoire.
The first part of the evening covered songs ranging from Perry Como to Chris Rea. Muddy Waters' Money was very popular, as was her own hit Lilac Wine.
We were then treated to some old favourites including Fool if You Think It's Over, Don't Cry Out Loud, and Pearl's a Singer.
Her love of jazz and passion for the blues shone through as she moved between the genres with an ease that would be envied by many. She also performed unaccompanied, on songs from her new album, Powerless.
The talented backing band were given the chance to show off their abilities too.
Miss Brooks has a fascinating way of showing her appreciation of her audience, including thumbs up, waving, and getting as near to them as she can without falling off the stage.
Many younger singers would find it difficult to give such a full-on performance for two hours, without a single hitch or mistake.
It was a fitting tribute to her five decades as one of the most successful and respected singers in the country. In fact, she is the most charted female album seller of the last 25 years, a fact now recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.
She's produced 19 studio albums in all, and won a host of awards during that time. Passionate performances like this evening in Newark – rearranged after illness earlier in the year - show why she remains a firm favourite with the public.
Elkie fully deserved the standing ovation which concluded a splendid evening's entertainment
- Margaret Astill
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