Reflections of an Ageing Gig Goer 8

Sisters: Annie Lennox and Friends Royal Albert Hall March 6 2025

This was a concert my wife in particular never expected to be able to see. A massive fan of Annie Lennox since her Tourists days, Janet has all of Annie’s solo recordings on CD, but with it having been 6 years since Annie last sang in public, we thought her concert days were over. When Sisters was announced, in aid of Annie’s own organisation The Circle our daughter stayed on Ticketmaster for an hour and a half, and finally secured two standing tickets which we were really happy with. Nearer the time I saw a competition run by For One Night Only events offering top price tickets plus exclusive access to Annie’s soundcheck. Well, that was my slightly (very) leftfield Valentine’s Day present for Janet, but as the money was going to charity and we had tickets anyway, I thought why not? You guessed it – we won! So, my review of the night starts with the soundcheck.

Annie Lennox Soundcheck

There were 30 of us with access to the soundcheck so it was pretty much as exclusive as you’re going to get. Annie watched us walk in, grinned and said ‘You’re all very quiet!’ As you can imagine that went some way to breaking the ice for fans suddenly in front of an icon who had been part of their lives for more than four decades. For someone who is as interested in music as I am, what really stood out was the way in which the soundcheck was carried out. It was relaxed with a fair amount of humour between the songs, in a way that was clearly very natural, not just Annie putting us at our ease, but once the songs started the fierce determination shone through. The vocals were excellent and the seriousness with which the dimensions of the stage and the positioning of instruments, seats and microphones were considered, showed how important it was to all concerned. We were not allowed any phones, cameras or recording equipment, quite rightly, so we could just concentrate on the music and the experience. I surprised myself by finding it such an emotional experience, with a sense of gratitude, excitement and awareness of how much a part of our lives Annie has been, combining to make this really special. We were treated to versions of classic songs that were just for us as a small incredibly lucky group of people. Annie couldn’t have been more welcoming or lovelier and I said to Janet that vocally she could definitely still produce the magic. It turned out that we hadn’t seen anything yet!

Part 1 The Friends

The second part of our prize were seats just seven rows from the front of the stage! It’s as near as we will probably ever get, so we were determined to enjoy every minute. Clara Amfo was our host for the evening and she was brilliant throughout. Clara’s introductions for each of the artists were beautifully judged and even those that we didn’t know came with an added sense of anticipation thanks to her. Rioghnach (pronounced Ri-uh-nah) Connolly, the BBC Folk Singer of the Year, sang three beautiful songs, Land of my Other, Carry Your Kin and Too Many Have Gone. Her stunning voice and incredible flute playing completely entranced the audience and no doubt sent many of us to Spotify and YouTube as I have no doubt that she won many more fans. Irish folk singing is something I have a natural affection for, and this was a particularly fine example of how good it can be. As a teacher I did appreciate the ‘teacher look’ she gave the late comers a few rows in front of us! The subtext of ‘What time do you call this?’ was abundantly clear! It certainly amused me.

Following Rioghnach was the poet Rakaya Fetuga whose powerful and timely poem Quietly reminded us in no uncertain terms why we were here. The situation for women worldwide needs to be improved in so many ways, health wise, jobwise and opportunity wise. If we were able to do this across the globe, our countries and the relationships between them would, I think, be greatly improved, but this requires women to ascend to power in countries that routinely shut them out from exercising that power in every possible way. All of these things were addressed in this marvellous piece of performance poetry.

Celeste was the next artist, a BRIT award winner and Oscar nominee. Her three tracks Women of Faces, Time Will Tell and Strange were delivered with an ethereal beauty that made them extremely powerful. She was clearly unfamiliar to a number of the crowd, but the purity of her voice won over many of the uninitiated. Her three tracks were a really good introduction to this rising star of the music scene.

Nadine Shah revelled in the opportunity to perform in front of the Royal Albert Hall audience and she electrified us with Topless Mother and a Nirvana cover, All Apologies, delivered with real power. She mentioned how grateful she was to be able to do what she does as a career, and she warmed the audience up ready for the delights to follow.

The final artist of the first half was the most well known of the quintet, . A soul singer, actress, campaigner, fundraiser and musical theatre veteran, Beverley Knight OBE. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda got the first singalong of the night as she filled the Hall with her amazing voice. Her next track was the very appropriate Sisters, Sisters and she finished her trio of tracks with the positive Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, a message that needs to be held on to in these dark times. She brought the first half to an uplifting close and set the stage for the second half with the legend herself, Annie Lennox

Part 2 Annie Lennox

Misan Harriman, the photographer spoke eloquently about the work of The Circle but, perhaps mindful of what was about to happen, he kept it concise and effective. Here was the moment the entire hall had been waiting for. Annie came on stage resplendent in a sequined jacket which was a statement of intent from the start. She was here to entertain. She started with the haunting Dark Road that was delivered with beauty and depth, but that was perhaps the least familiar song of her entire set. Pretty much everything else demonstrated, if it needed demonstrating, that she has been a massive part of the musical life of this country since the early 1980s. Next was Little Bird which got the first of many audience singalongs going, but then she got one of the big guns out. Walking on Broken Glass is a song that is recognisable from the first few notes. It would have been great in Name That Tune back in the day! As soon as it started the audience jumped to their feet and began singing and dancing. The pure joy radiating to and from the stage just summed up how loved Annie and her songs are. She sang it with a voice as powerful and true as if it had been two or three years ago she recorded it, not more than 30 years ago. It is still my favourite song of her solo career and when I heard it here it just reminded me that it is a truly great pop song that stands with any song from any era.

From there she went back to the early Eurythmics days with the beautiful yet disquieting Love is a Stranger given a new freshness and verve. No More I Love Yous was a single that I never knew was a cover version until I was researching this post. Originally recorded by The Lover Speaks in 1986 it barely scraped into the Top 60 which is totally baffling. Annie decided it deserved more and rerecorded it, taking it Number 2 in the UK charts and narrowly missing the Top 20 in the US. It was her biggest solo single and deservedly so, because it is a piece of genius in its original form and in Annie’s version. There Must Be an Angel was the most emotional song of the night for me. She sang it as a duet with her daughter, Lola, a marvellous singer in her own right, and the way Annie looked at her daughter throughout with such a powerful and abiding love in her eyes brought tears to mine. Here Comes the Rain Again was beautifully rearranged for piano and gave a freshness to a song that I have always liked ever since I first heard it.

The first of two surprise guests was introduced for the next song. Hozier, a massive presence both vocally and physically, was introduced to sing a duet with Annie on one of my favourite songs of the 2010s, the immense Take Me to Church. It was an absolutely stunning meeting of two great voices that blended together perfectly on a version of the song that could really do well if it was rereleased. It was definitely one of the absolute highlights of the set. Their second duet was seamlessly blended into the first, this time I Put a Spell on You. The classic song recorded by Screaming Jay Hawkins, Nina Simone and Creedence Clearwater Revival could not have been sung any better on any of those versions. It was Annie Lennox at her absolute best and the audience loved it. The next song, Missionary Man, showed the strength of Annie’s catalogue because it was not a standout. For many other artists it would have been one of the strongest songs of the night. The final two songs of the set were a fantastic finish by any standards. Why is one of the most memorable songs of her solo career and here it was delivered with power and beauty that just stilled and mesmerised the audience who had previously been on their feet and singing along. It was a perfect example of an artist with the power over an audience like very few others. The finale was a duet with Paloma Faith on a song that summed up the message of the entire night. It was of course Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves which led to a huge Royal Albert Hall singalong. That was nothing compared to the singalong for the encore, the timeless and brilliant Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). The perfect end to a perfect night in the company of the ageless and indefatigable Annie Lennox.