The Empress of Soul consolidates her rule

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It is an almost puzzling experience watching and listening to Gladys Knight.

Let me explain. There are plenty of legacy artists with plenty of magic left to share. Dionne Warwick, who performed in the Hall last year, can still command a show although her vocal now has obvious limitations. Mavis Staples, who at 79 years old is still hustling, has brilliantly re-defined her style over the years and has been recording material to suit the deepening of her voice.

However, with Gladys Knight (now 75) one feels that they are watching the exact same performer who soared into the spotlight in the late-1960s. Reluctantly signed by Motown founder Berry Gordy and seen as an act of low priority – Stuart Cosgrove writes in Detroit 67: The Year That Changed Soul that Gordy was outraged when the group upstaged The Supremes in concert – Gladys Knight & the Pips proved that with the right material they could realise Motown’s crossover ambitions. Leaving the label in 1973 to sign with Buddah Records, the group saw further success.

Last night, the Empress of Soul thrilled a sold-out audience at the Royal Albert Hall as part of a wider UK tour, despite having announced a ‘farewell’ tour a decade prior. To anyone following Gladys Knight’s career over the years, the magnificent upkeep of her voice has been a source of continued fascination. Her raspy contralto with top notes full of resonance is an otherworldly joy to behold. It is a telling lesson to those singers who sacrifice dynamics and discretion on the altar of ornamental melisma.

Entering the stage dressed in white, Knight carried out a brief sound-check before jumping straight into a rendition of ‘I’ve Got To Use My Imagination’, a hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1973. She followed with ‘Save the Overtime (For Me)’, including a snippet of Luther Vandross’ ‘Never Too Much’. A chorus of Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ found its way into the set after a performance of soul anthem ‘Best Thing That Ever Happened’.

Touching briefly on her time with Motown (referred to jokingly as ‘motel’), she reflected on her recording of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. The song was the group’s breakthrough hit and the highest selling Motown record of 1967, though frustratingly outsold by Marvin Gaye’s rendition released the following year (although actually recorded before Knight’s version). She began in the slower tempo of Gaye’s rendition before reverting to the quick-paced take she did with the Pips.

‘License to Kill’, released in 1989 for the James Bond film of the same name, was all sass and thrilling melodrama. The backing vocalists subbed for the original recording’s horn section with Knight handling the climactic bridge with apparent ease. Mourning the loss of individuals such as James Ingram, Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin, Knight also performed the Carole King-penned ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ with excellent work from her backing vocalists.

Perhaps the biggest testament to the potency of Knight’s voice was her command of the subdued ballads of the evening – ‘Part-Time Love’, a cover of Major’s ‘Why I Love You’, and the classic ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night’. With no production to hide behind, the control and poise of Knight’s instrument was undeniable. A ballad written by Kris Kristofferson imploring intimacy, ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’ began low and whispery before rising to its booming climax. The staging for that number was particularly breath-taking with the stage bathed in red.

‘Midnight Train to Georgia’, cued with comic timing as Knight called curfew on the evening, had the audience in reveries of soulful euphoria.

See a rough setlist here.