Love him or loathe him, Mick Hucknall knows how to put on a good show.
Last night a packed out Civic Hall was treated to his passionate interpretations of American 1960 Blues legend Bobby “Blue” Bland.
How this Mancunian with a distinctively high-pitched syrupy voice managed to pull it off is a mystery, but years of experience must have mellowed him because pull it off he did.
This venture into the dark and weighty world of the Blues is Hucknall’s debut as a solo artist following a hiatus spent looking after his partner and newborn daughter and then disbanding Simply Red.
The show opened with a video documenting Bland’s career highlights and how the bluesman influenced Hucknall’s music long before he became a slave to pop success.
His band, the same from the days of Simply Red, was great and Hucknall ensured each musician was given plenty of spotlight time.
It took some time for the audience to get warmed up but a few Simply Red tracks got people going and before long a couple of starstruck women were out of their seats dancing.
By the end a throng of devotees were at the stage vying to touch his hand.
Belting out tracks such as Cry, Cry, Cry, I’ll Take Care of You and Farther Up The Road, Hucknall has definitely taken Bland’s songs, put a contemporary slant on them and made them fit to his style.
Hip movements aside, Hucknall was polished yet passionate on stage, and his tribute was, in essence, one man’s personal odyssey to new musical pastures.
Review by Erike Pennington.
4 Comments
Nice One! Good to hear that he got a good reception. I used to teach Mick at FE College, including how to play the guitar, which he hardly has done since, it seems. Lovely lad in every way with a great voice which I hope he looks after well into his 70s.
A great review. I was one of the very lucky ones to be at the gig last night. Mick’s vocal ability is under-estimated by many and this change of musical direction for Mick is excellent, as I’d expected it to be. It proves just how good a singer he actually is. The album Tribute To Bobby is brilliant but I have to say it can’t compare with the gig last night. Those songs, performed in the smaller, more intimate setting of the Civic were over-whelmingly awesome and I’m sure Mick’s voice sounded more powerful that I’ve ever heard it before. The band, made up of a reduced number of the recent Simply Red line-up are excellent too, all superb musicians in their own right and the instrumental tunes were fantastic. A very big thank you to Mick and everyone involved for an absolutely brilliant night.
I was at the show and it was fabulous!! Mick’s music has been with me since the 80’s and this new direction is every bit as good. As the Civic Hall is a smaller venue Mick was able to chat to the audience and seemed more relaxed than previous years. Great review by the E&S.
I too was at the show, and what a good one!
Not Simply Red, but that wasn’t what Mick Hucknall was there for. I praise him for stepping ‘out of the box’ and putting over his passion for the blues with such forthrightedness. if only we masses could express ourselves like he does.
I too saw that the audience was taking their time to gat used to this kind of music, but i’ll bet that this patronage doesn’t even KNOW what the blues are. their passion seemed to be for the person of mick Hucknall himself! my girlfriend certanily seemed that way! i wish she would regard me like she does for him!
Once he played ONE simply red song, (mortgage home blues, interestedly enough) they were in familiar territory, which was why we got an extra song in the encore! GREAT!
(now WHATabout high-voiced AND syrupy? ) A new one on me!