‘Mavis simply glows.’
–
Seeing a gospel legend perform in church was the item on my soul music bucket list I didn’t know I had. As part of the Innervisions Festival, produced by AGMP, Mavis Staples took to the stage for a sold-out concert at the North London’s Union Chapel – a stunning Gothic revival venue with wonderful acoustics.
Mavis simply glows. Her charisma is life-affirming. The first few chords of ‘If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)’, a Staple Singers classic and Mavis’ opening number for this set, elicited an eruption of applause from the audience (interestingly, overwhelmingly white). Yet Mavis had more to offer than simply nostalgia and legacy.
At 78 years of age, her voice is still as powerful as ever. A naturally lessened range has been met with a deeper, even more gravelly tone. It has the comfort of a home-cooked meal, with the command of a police siren. The rumble and weight of her voice shook throughout the Chapel.
The setlist was mostly taken from her latest studio album –  2017’s politically-charged If All I Was Was Black. As I noted in my review last year, the album, devoid of explicit references, has an almost allegorical quality. I disagree with famed music critic Robert Christgau who deemed it too subtle.
As one of the musical voices of the Civil Rights Movement as part of The Staple Singers, Mavis comments on the contemporary political landscape with a wise authority. On ‘Who Told You That’, she deplores political apathy and passivity. One of the best songs from If All I Was Was Black, performed at the Union Chapel with an almost lecturing inflection, is ‘No Time For Crying’. ‘People are dying / Bullets are flying / No time for tears / No time for tears / We’ve got work to do’, Mavis asserts.
While If All I Was Was Black makes it clear that Mavis despairs the current climate in which we live – she jokingly claimed she would be visiting the White House soon – she still has plenty of hope to share. On closing number ‘Touch a Hand, Make a Friend’, she held hands with and hugged audience members in a heartwarming gesture.
Mavis Staples is performing this weekend at the Cornbury Music Festival.
(Image copyright: AGMP)
