PALACE THEATRE, REDDITCH (2008)
'THE BEAT' (March, 2008)
The standing ovation said it all. Superstar Elkie's audience had enjoyed every single musical note, every song and every movement.
Elkie Brooks returned to the Palace Theatre in Redditch, after an 18-month gap, and was greeted by a packed audience full of enthusiasm for this artist who just seems to get better as her career progresses.
After casually following her all-male six piece band on stage, she sang 'He Could Have Been An Army' from the 1978 album Live And Learn followed by a powerful performance of Love Potion No 9.
Elkie, dressed in an elegant pale blue tight-fitting silky knee-length evening dress with shoes to match, churned out a good 20 top class tunes throughout the night. Most of the hits included Pearl's A Singer and Sunshine After The Rain, both Top 10 hits for Elkie in 1977.
Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Don't Cry Out Loud from 1978 were in the set. She sang a multi-million selling song from the Perry Como songbook called 'Till The End Of Time' written in 1945, "the year I was born, and introduced to me recently by my husband Trevor," she told us.
Elkie's humour became evident a number of times, most notably in the song Lilac Wine. The line 'I drink much more that I ought to drink' raised laughter from the filled-to-capacity auditorium bringing a break to the song. Then, with a Gracie Fields sound-a-like mimic, she reminded us 'this is a serious song that I'm singing'. Of course, there was even more laughter from the audience.
The guys in the band were introduced in due course; and you could feel the camaraderie and
respect she shared with this talented bunch of musicians, notably Steve Jones on saxophone, Brian Badhams on bass, and Andrew Murray on piano. Multi-talented Lee Noble played piano as well as supplying lead backing vocals. He has also penned songs for Elkie. Lee was a part of Elkie's 2005 CD release Eiectric Lady.
After a 15-minute break and refreshments from the bar, all were eager to reclaim their seats for act two. No one was disappointed.
Elkie, now dressed in a striking black outfit, kept the songs coming until sadly there were no more. She left an audience simply hungry for much more!
(Trevor Tapscott)
