Blind Boys of Alabama, MavisStaples @ The Sydney OperaHouse (25/4/11)

Mon 2nd May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Mavis Staples is now 72 years old, but don’t let the age fool you into thinking she may be out here for nostalgias sake. Make no mistake, Mavis can still get down, and still possesses a voice strong enough to take your head off. Opening with I Am His, And He Is Mine , the fist note barely had the time to leave her lips and the audience was captivated. Wrote A Song For Everyone followed. She punctuated the verses with deep growls, before taking the huge chorus up to the massive heights of the Opera House roof. It’s not often we get to say this about a performer, but Staples’ in-between song banter was almost as entertaining as her singing. She is quick-witted and extremely sharp, adding yet another string to the bow in her arsenal of talents. At this point Mavis let us in on how she planned the show to run. “we’re going to give you some stuff from the past, some stuff from the present, and who knows…we may even take you into the future”

Backed by a six piece band featuring three backing singers, one of whom is also blessed with the singing gene from the family Staples, her sister. A clear set highlight was her cover of The Band’s The Weight and after the catchy Only The Lord Knows Mavis told the audience “Get rid of all your papers and televisions, you can’t trust any of it. You can trust only two people, The Lord…and ME!”

With the house lights low, the three vocalists of The Blind Boys of Alabama were led to their chairs at the front of the stage. Positioned in the middle of his two band mates at the front, Jimmy Carter introduced the group and expressed how happy he and the band were to be playing in such an iconic venue. While the group was still receiving applause for their introduction, they opened with Take The High Road.

As expected, vocal and music all fall into their right places instantly and effortlessly. There is no shaky starts, no needing to find their groove, when it come to musicians of this calibre who have been doing it this long, it’s only second nature. They followed the opener with the hymn Peace, Perfect Peace. This track showcasing the genuine beauty in the three main vocalist’s voices. Harmonising over a long note together during the chorus, their voices seems to gently wash over the audience. If anyone was worried about things that were needing to be done at home over the next couple of days, they were forgotten in that moment.

The up-beat Spirit in the sky followed by Way Down In The Hole. Jimmy becoming clearly excitable during this part of the show couldn’t keep himself in his chair as he jumped about, he showed the Opera House audience some of the vocal gymnastics only a person with a voice of his ilk can pull off successfully.

Aaron Neville had been billed alongside the Blind Boys for this show. But with the Blind Boys doing such an all-encompassing job. Together they sung People Get Ready, Neville’s unique falsetto shining like a beautiful light amongst the deeper voices of the Blind Boys, the different styles doing more than just complimenting each other. After a gorgeous version of Hush, I was expecting Neville to remain with the group for the rest of the evening. However he would depart after only two more tracks. But what notes to leave on, a mesmerising version of Change Is Gonna Come followed by What Kind Of Man Jesus Is.

The Blind Boys version of Amazing Grace is truly haunting. Putting an entirely different spin to the version most of would be used to hearing. It’s performed as a gospel track but is driven by a wholeheartedly bluesy overtone. Their final song of the set was a joyous 15 minute all in party. Jimmy was led down into the audience; right up the flanks of the Opera House’s bottom level, on both sides of the venue. People continued to clap along with the song with as much enthusiasm as a true believer on a Sunday morning. Jimmy’s antics continued through the crowd before he was led back onstage and all the boys were taken off for a well earned break.

Not finished there, they returned to the stage “sounds to me like y’all want another one? Well we love you some much, were gonna give ya another one” The title track from the Ben Harper and Blind Boys album There Will Be A Light was given a note perfect rendition. Before Aaron Neville was again called to the stage to perform I Saw The Light. The sound produced during this track was quite literally mind blowing. One of the best performances of any track i have seen a predominantly vocal group ever do. If you weren’t a true gospel music lover before this, you would walk out one.

Seeing artists who have been honing their crafts for as long as the ones we saw under the Opera House roof tonight is truly an amazing experience. There is a reason some acts are around as long as they are. They are the ‘real’ performers in every sense of the word.