Diane Shaw at PE Live

“Rather than selecting songs to convey her artistry and mine the nuances of her instrument, Shaw became a vehicle for crowd-pleasing numbers”

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Doing a set comprised solely of covers presents opportunities and challenges. The opportunity is there to showcase one’s interpretive and vocal talents. After all, some of the finest recordings in soul music history have been covers. The obvious example which comes to mind is Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’. Originally recorded by Otis Redding as an expression of pent up male frustration, Franklin transformed the song both musically and thematically – resulting in an iconic statement of feminism and Black empowerment.

Without the willingness to do an inventive reading of a song – or to simply sing the hell out of it – the set can fall flat with little artistic impression made. That was sadly the case with Diane Shaw’s inaugural show at PE Live, High Holborn last night. The Mancunian soul singer, who has supported the likes of Sister Sledge and The Stylistics on tour, certainly has a voice. However, her misguided song selections – often pitched slightly above her comfort zone – only showed glimpses of her silky tones.

I credit Shaw with venturing outside the usual canon in her first set, selecting the likes of Lulu’s ‘Leave A Little Love’, Limmie & the Magic Cooking’s ‘You Can Do Magic’, and The Elgin’s delightful ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You’. Shaw was ably backed by her band with tight choreography from backing singers Tosin Akindele and Dayna Springer-Clarke. With a clear love for the genre, Shaw selected songs both dear to her and likely to trigger audience nostalgia. And true, the audience were on their feet at several points in the show. But ultimately, the performances were lacking in substance. Covers of Aretha Franklin’s ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, a medley of Supreme hits, and Mary Wells ‘My Guy’ were frustratingly pedestrian.

The second set, beginning with Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, consisted of baffling song choices. The Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’, The Jackson’s ‘Blame it on the Boogie’, and Billy Ocean’s ‘Red Light Spells Danger’ misfired in particular. Rather than selecting songs to convey her artistry and mine the nuances of her instrument, Shaw became a vehicle for crowd-pleasing numbers. The delivery was at best serviceable but often marred by clipped high notes and poor coordination with her band.