Simply Red + Macy Gray @ NIA, 14th December 2010
I had about five minutes to respond to a very frantic review request from Brum Live for this gig and so I weighed things up. I’ve never been a particular Simply Red fan but, I’ve always enjoyed the big hits; was admiring of Mick Hucknall’s candid confessional in an interview recently that his bedding conquests were in need of apology to said young gals, (Don’t be too hard on yourself Mick, being a millionaire, international pop star does go to girls’ heads, as indeed other parts.) and that to share a bit of Pop history with a sell-out crowd seeing an iconic, mega-shifting album performer was too good to miss. Due to gridlock carmageddon I missed some of Macy Gray’s opening set: but not that much. It seemed more a medley with ‘I Try’ an oasis of clarity amongst too much whooping and hey Birmingham yo sexy, huh! And, with irony free inaccuracy, being told, ‘The more you drink, the better we sound.’
The show’s overture is a montage of fast edit clips of social/political events covering the period of the band’s rise to global success. A cherubic, young Hucknall interview sound-bite has all the ladies ahhing but my word how much we’ve seen looking back those years.
Down falls the satin-like stage curtain and a band of seriously kick-ass funky cool musicians introduce the man himself. Adoring punters prepare to be taken along on a nostalgic, retrospective of cherry-picked songs that informed their lives, relationships and poignant reflections when ‘Come To My Aid’ kicks off the evening. The songs come slick and fast to ecstatic response as Hucknall sashays across stage with the casual dignity of the mellowing funk/soul maestro and love-pad balladeer he is.
Age brings dignity, there’s still the leonine locks, and but for the shades we might share his cheeky eye twinkle. Picture CSI Horatio’s Prodical brother come home. The stage is set with Avatar-like lighting pods, the live-cam action is beamed from rectangular units stage left and right. Luscious, curving drapes suspend from above and are lit with deep purples and reds. The band honk with Stax to the max horns, rhythm section precision, guitar and keyboard magnificence. No female harmonies needed to apply. Hucknall references dates and albums for specific songs and come mid set pays tribute to his hero Teddy Pendergrass, with ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ that has him slightly flabbered because the NIA take over lyric perfect. Likewise, with a touch of the luurve walrus himself in the backing mix, Barry White’s ‘It’s Only Love’ purrs seductively. The reggae ‘Night Nurse’ is a hats off dedication to recently deceased Gregory Isaacs. ‘Money’s Too Tight’ understandably goes supernova.
‘Stars’ is beautifully enhanced with cascading spangles shooting down on the video screens as everyone joins in the chorus. A special moment indeed. Encore time: ‘Something Got Me Started’, it certainly did by now with the grooving punters standing in the tiers. And then he says it’s back to where it all started. Hucknell on acoustic guitar, and once he’d politely calmed a rather excitable lady, gently chimed the opening notes of the most appropriate song imaginable- ‘Holding Back The Years’. A memorable gig for a memorable career.
Set list: Come To My Aid, Fake, Thrill Me, So Not Over You, Never Never Love, Night Nurse, A New Flame, Babies, If You Don’t Know Me By Now, It’ Only Love, Stars, Sunrise, Right Thing, Money, Ain’t That A Lot of Love, Fairground (encore) Something Got Me Started, Holding Back The Years.
Review – John Kennedy