I know I shouldn't criticise this event as it's intent was to raise money for The Circle, Annie's charity supporting woman experiencing challenges and injustice around the world but I am struggling to find nice things to say about it.
It was billed as 'An Evening of Music & Conversation' but the music accounted for less than a third of the night and her band, who didn't appear until the finale, while undoubtedly good as individual musicians, sounded and looked more like a wedding band in their white shirts. They wouldn't have made it beyond the audition stage of the X-Factor even with Annie singing. They did sound more cohesive when the lighting engineer threw down some shapes and Sisters started Doing It For Themselves but by that time the show was practically over.
The music wasn't the only disappointment. The chat between her and Janice Forsyth (of BBC Radio Scotland fame) had me mimicking her expression in the poster. Annie is pleasant to listen to but there's not a lot of fun to her stories. She sometimes reminded me of a rock'n'roll nan looking through an old photo album reminiscing about the good old days to her grandchildren without explaining what was good about them. I wanted details. I wanted humour. I wanted to hear about the background to her songs, the albums and the tour anecdotes. It became a bit of a whirlwind as classic moments popped onto the screen with barely a mention.
Another reason for my lack of engagement was probably due in part to my tickets being in the Gallery. As the big screen was only being used to display the photos and video clips, I was too far away to feel any intimacy that I think the event required. Others might disagree. Some rabid fans in the Gallery could not contain their excitement, whistling and shouting vocal responses during the talk like they were replying to a gospel preacher. I just think, if she's going to spend so much time chatting, it would have been nice to see her facial expressions. That would have cost more money though and the charity would have got less.
There were some nice touches like having the stage where the pair chatted look like a front room in a 1950's tenement, similar to the environment in which Annie grew up. It was great to hear her belt out The Tourists' hit, "I Only Want To Be With You" on the piano. She told a lovely story about the making of the song "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)" where Stevie Wonder was very late yet left them awestruck when he played 'that' harmonica solo (while Stevie's assistant held his hair to stop the beads making a noise). Her passion for her causes shone through too. The material about her work against apartheid to free Nelson Mandela was affecting, as was her time working to fight AIDS. She loves a good cause and there's nothing wrong with that.
I don't think we'll ever see Annie perform a full set again but we'll always have her songs and videos. I think that may be a better way to remember her than this.
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| Nose bleed territory where even the aircon pipes are lower than you. |
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| The top half is the big screen. |
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| Annie prefers to stay out of the spotlight. |
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| And goodnight? No, not really. |
