auditorium - grimsby
grimsby news - 1995
A sold out auditorium was treated to a night to remember last night by one of pop's finest singers, Elkie Brooks.
There was no warm up act, no frills, no fanfares. Elkie just sepped onto the stage and launched her dynamic act.
Her powerful voice rocked the building as sh ranged over ballads, blues, jazz and a string of her hits.
The fans had come to hear Pearl's A Singer, Sunshine, Fool and as Elkie obliged, each was greeted with thunderous applause.
"I wonder if she'll sing Lilac Wine?" my wife and friends asked at the interval. They need not have worried, for it was a highlight of the second half from Elkie and her fine backing band.
The song says Pear's A Singer, but Elkie Brooks showed last night what a superb singer she is.
-tony hyde
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leas cliff hall - folkstone
kent news - 1995
I owe it all to my dad's record collection.
If I hadn't had Elkie BRooks and the memorable throaty tune Pearl's A Singer jammed down my throat from the age of eight, I probably wouldn't have gone to tsee her at the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone.
But from the age of ten, like or not, I could recite the song in my sleep. Telling friends I was off to see the gutsy star of the seventies got a mixed reaction, topped of with a "Who's He" from one individual.
Unperturbed, I slipped between the noticeably middle-aged gang of fans to the back row, dragging a yet to be confirmed friend along with me.
After one of her opening tracs it was pretty clear the lady had not lost her lullabies, little less her looks.
Dressed in a white suit for the first hald and a black number for the second, sh started slowyl, giving the audience a chance to mellow out to the sounds of easy-listening Sunshine After the Rain before belting out the true country sounds of Gasoline Alley.
Later she did covers of some jazz greats before breaking into her infamous Lilac Wine. She ended her encore with that wonderful Janis Joplin number Mercedes Benz. The only shame was the lack of zest amont the audience as Elkie pranced around the stage. Not one of them responded to her suggestion of getting up for a boogie.
But my triumph of the night had to be converting my techno friend into admitting Elkie had a darn good vice.
II didn;t want to say it, but I told you so...
-juliet dennis
