All-4-One, Sheena Easton, et Ruben Studdard

‘I swear like the shadow that’s by your side, I’ll be there for better or worse, till death do us part, I’ll love you with every beat of my heart, and I swear’…the lyrics from the All-4-One hit echoed around the intimate venue, and they opened their concert with their biggest hit. It seemed that there were lots of long time fans there, singing along, hands in the air, completely immersed in the moment. It was something really fantastic to be a part of, and a wonderful start to a concert.
The R&B group have had incredible success over their career, and have even bee dubbed the Dukes of R&B multiple times across the internet. After winning countless awards over the years, they have built up an incredible amount of critical acclaim, that has sent them touring the world time and time again. They’re great performers, working together flawlessly, bouncing off of each other, and transitioning seamlessly from one song to another.
They played a great variety of tracks, mainly from No Regrets, and Split Personality, but then revisited some of their older tracks for a nostalgic jam. When watching a band live, it’s so much more enjoyable when the musicians are having a good time, and All-4-One were absolutely loving it. I can’t fault the performance at all, I’ll definitely be going back.

It’s probably fair to say that for any British solo artist, the holy grail is really being able to achieve transatlantic success; it’s actually incredible to take a step back and consider the fact that artists like Robbie Williams, capable of selling out Knebworth three times over here in the UK, is relatively obscure by way of comparison over in the States. Of course, Scotland can lay claim to having a female solo artist who’s managed that particular crossover in spectacular style in recent years, in the form of Susan Boyle, but it’s also fair to say that Sheena Easton - who hails from Belshill in North Lanarkshire - could also be viewed as similarly successful, given the fact that she matched her slew of top ten solo singles in this country - the likes of ‘Modern Girl’ and ‘9 to 5’ included - with a host of Grammy nominations over in America, two of which she’s won. With over twenty million records shifted to date, Easton has been relatively inactive in recent years, with last year’s remasters of a handful of her classic records being as close to new material as we’ve gotten in a while; she seldom tours, but would surely be able to book huge venues around the world if she chose to mount a comeback.

‘Home’ is one of my favourite songs, and Ruben Studdard’s R&B twist on the song that opened the show was absolutely magical, and as his gospel voice rang out across the auditorium, he held every single member of the crowd in complete silence. After winning American Idol back some years ago, he was one of the lucky ones who rose to fame from the success, and has released many albums and singles with much success since his win.

He played through a great selection of his tracks, both covers and originals, and focused mainly on his 2009 album, Love Is. He was great at encouraging us all in the audience to sing and dance along to his music, and would shout out ‘if you know this one sing along and put your arms in the air’, which was awesome to feel so involved in his performances.

Studdard is an incredibly performer as well as vocalist, and his witty humour and confident stance held the audience captivated from start to finish. He even took requests for songs after he’d finished playing through his set list, which I thought was an awesome and really personal touch.

The South venue was a very nice intimate setting. I enjoyed Lindsey Webster and Gerald Veseley, and the rest of the band. She gave personal accounts of her songs, memories of her mother, and it was her birthday. It is exciting and refreshing to hear such a beautiful voice and songs. I would love to see her again.