Anastacia gigs London – but for one night only

From Anastacia 2009

Crossing London for a venue new to me – the Hammersmith/Carling/HMV Apollo as variously named on the short wall from the Tube! For the one night in London for Anastacia’s Heavy Rotation Tour – why only one night? Anastacia engaged the audience in a classic gig style, a great contrast to the formulaic, tightly timed events most concerts are these days. So much so, there was a real concern that her dealing with the heckles from the audience could incur the wrath of the curfew authorities. She was clearly enjoy herself, and that added to the atmosphere on a barmy summer night. It is a shame that even with the more relaxed style there was still no space for a proper encore. The tradition of spontaneously thanking the audience for their appreciation appears to be dead – how hard would it be to repeat the song from the night that when down best as the finale rather than saving up two or three hits for the end and leaving the stage in a faux farewell, only to come back when the audience finally realise the house lights aren’t coming on and they are only delaying their favourite tracks by continuing to applaud!

What’s up Britney……

From Britney 02 2009

The Britney Circus came to town – and I struggled to the O2 for the last two nights of her residence – a moment of curiosity meant I got the opportunity to get a great seat 4 rows from the front, next to the main stage for the Saturday night to compliment my seat 15 rows back from one of the satellite stages on Sunday night. It is a little frustrating that I couldn’t get the good seat when I first tried to get it! After all the poor reviews my expectations weren’t high, but Britney put on a good show – good enough for me to battle to and from the O2 without the Jubilee line twice – and the first time the DLR failed going – yet another occasion to call upon the services of a black cab… How will London cope with the Olympics! It was clear that Britney rarely switched on her microphone and being there two nights in a row, revealed when she did it was a fully scripted - “what’s up London”! Scripted to the extend, that in her next performance she forgot she’d moved up north and enquired as to the state of London in Manchester!

Even with little live vocal contribution the circus theme was very entertaining – although currently P!nk still holds the title of best circus at the O2 this year so far. Seamed to have been cheating a little to be able to walk between the main stage and the two smaller ones after the acrobatics of Beyoncé, the flying platform for Girl’s Aloud and the swinging arms for Tina Turner!  The only Diva left to see at the O2 this year is Madonna – and again curiosity about a “new tickets released” means I’ll be doing a double header for that event… Before Britney, Ciara had done a great job of warming up the crowd – showing up the main act with great live vocals and interaction with the audience.

Put another dress on…

From Beyonce 02 2009

Bring on the next Female soloist to take to the stage at the O2 – Beyoncé certainly filled the O2 – multiple costume changes and great vocals. Lot of photo opportunities and the mirror effect stage surface added greatly… Beyoncé managed to top both Girl’s Aloud and Tina Turner for dramatic method of getting away from the main stage – short of the full acrobatics of P!nk but still an impressive flight to the “B stage” that gave those in the seats at the back a short period for being stage side, rather than straining for a view… Next up Britney has multiple great performances to follow – a high bar has been set for her Circus tour to reach.