Went to see Al Green last night at Birmingham Indoor Arena... review follows... shamelessly nabbed from elsewhere but I believe the review is an accurate one...
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Green's 15-strong band (horns, keyboards, guitars, drums and percussionist) trooped on first and
struck up a deep, loose-limbed funk with plenty of horn stabs as punctuation. This doubtless
sounded, to the happy and expectant crowd, like the very definition of "baby-makin' music", with a
little extra gloss and extravagance on the side.
Then his two male dancers sidled up, body-popping and boy band dancing, before one of the two
female backing singers - Green's daughter Deborah, in fact - announced the entry of the Reverend at
the head of this all-action procession.
The Al Green of 61 years' vintage is a very different character to the wide-collared, sweat-soaked
version of the 1970s. Dressed in a smart suit and bowtie, with sensible shoes which shone almost
as much as his pearly whites - he looked like a well-manicured salesman.
Before he even started singing, as the band continued their uplifting grind, Green was dishing out
single red roses to all the ladies in the front row. Between this chore, he told us how pleased he
was to be here, and introduced his band - who had already earned their money by this point - before
opening with I Can't Stop and Let's Get Married - both of which were relegated to the odd chorus or
two amid the general good-vibe-building.
For all the revue-show stylings of the gig, however, one thing was absolutely beyond doubt: Al
Green has still got some voice, the perfect distillation of the soul and gospel styles. It was ceramic-
smooth as he and his singers shared a version of Amazing Grace, switching to that powerful, in-
tune yell all his fans are familiar with when he broke into a little Sam Cooke.
Then it was roses and handshakes for everyone up the front and mass singing along, as he gave us
Let's Stay Together. It was a faithful and wonderfully sung version, although Green did tend to start
a line and let the audience finish it a little too often.
Unfeasibly, it was all uphill from there. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? was just perfect, a soft
ballad which the crowd helped out with once more. Then it was all energy, with Here I Am (Come
and Take Me), a soul covers medley, and Tired of Being Alone almost blending into one big,
ecstatic whole.
For his finale, Green stretched out Love and Happiness to epic proportions, with his excellent band
on the best form of the night.
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My added thoughts...
He was on stage for just 50 mins...
He let the audience sing way too much for him...
He preached God... far to often... (yeah I know he is the Rev. Al Green - but still)
There was no encore... the band just finished playing after he left the stage... what a let down...
He still has the most fantastic voice...
