(Southend-on-Sea, England, U.K.)
I don’t think I had ever been to a proper theatre concert in Europe before; my sole European rock concert experience was seeing Paul Simon at a Budapest soccer stadium way back in 1991. That was a great show but hardly typical!
The Cliffs Pavilion has a spectacular location overlooking the sea but the “modern” façade really doesn’t look too inspiring on an overcast November afternoon. Fortunately, it looks much better on the inside and holds 1,630 spectators in the main theatre.
The opening act was a young singer/guitarist named Elliott Morris. As yet unsigned, he is an impressive guitar virtuoso. Not only does he have impressive string technique, he also uses the guitar as a percussive instrument at the same time. He described it as “slappy and bangy” and he closed off his short set with a fascinating version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.
Paul Carrack came on with a 7-piece band and played a main set of about an hour and forty minutes. Drawing equally from his “greatest hits” and his more recent albums, Paul was definitely playing to the converted. He has played this venue several times before and most of the attendees were “return customers”. A consummate professional, Carrack ensured that the focus remained on his voice…still fully intact after more than 40 years of professional singing. There were very few extended solos or “jazz odysseys”.
Carrack has certain “must play” songs, so we eventually heard “Tempted”, “How Long”, “The Living Years” and other highlights from his long career. Because the vocals were so clear and the sound was so balanced, you could actually understand all of the lyrics. They clearly affected the fellow beside me, who was indeed wiping away tears during “The Living Years”. With the audience supplying most of the backing choral-style vocals, it was one of those special musical moments where you can feel a chill running down your spine.
Of the newer material, the cover of Brenda Lee’s “I’m Losing You” was probably the highlight. But the crowd enthusiastically greeted each of the new songs; clearly, they were familiar with Carrack’s latest album. He also felt confident enough in it to close the show with “Rise and Shine”, the title track.
After the handful of encore songs, the concert was over and the crowd politely filed out. Actually, the crowd was quite polite throughout the show. They seemed a little more reserved than the crowds back home in Kingston!
The final assessment? It was definitely among my top ten concerts, although my expectations for it were also quite high. I hope that the rest of the shows will be as professionally performed and have the same sound quality!
Next up: I’m off to London, with a West-End (London’s Broadway equivalent) show on my very first night there!