HARLEQUIN THEATRE, REDHILL (2007)
CROYDON GUARDIAN (April, 2007)
There were times as she swung her mike stand and punched her fist in the air when Elkie Brooks looked 25 again, rolling back the years to her wilder days in Vinegar Joe.
Age has made no difference to her fabulous wine and whisky voice, in fact, when it comes to belting out the blues there is no substitute for experience.
At a packed Harlequin Theatre on Saturday, April 1, the capacity crowd was treated to a first half full of hits: Fool If You Think It's Over, Don't Cry Out Loud and a sultry Lilac Wine.
Only Gasoline Alley and the Muddy Waters' classic She Moves Me hinted at things to come, for this was Elkie getting back to her rock and blues roots.
Apart from the obligatory Pearl's A Singer, the second half set rocked from start to barnstorming finish, featuring four tracks from her recent Electric Lady album and a stunning treatment of Jimmy Reed's Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do.
Elkie dedicated her first encore to "a dear friend who is here tonight", jazz maestro Humphrey Lyttelton, the big-band leader who lent a helping hand during the leaner times in her life.
If there were any justice, that song, Tony Joe White's majestic Out of The Rain could and should be the next chart stepping-stone to success in the career of the rejuvenated Ms Brooks.
