|
Library - Reviews
Reviews of Fresco Tour
[Dublin Evening Herald]
The Mancunian group sure know how to make a dramatic entrance. Lights swept the Point's crowded corners before the stage curtain suddenly dropped to the ground and the 10 musicians launched into an instrumental introduction. But there's no doubting that the star of the show is singer is Heather Small.
She stalked on stage in a sexy slit dress before unleashing a voice that sends shivers down your spine. The many hits came fast and furious. Open You Heart was augmented by some Spanish guitar-playing, while the crowd sang their hearts out to One Night In Heaven.
The band returned for an encore that kicked off with the first single from Fresco, Just For You before Movin' On Up moved thousands of people to clap and dance along.
Brilliant sound, great graphics and stage set and funky music - what more could one ask for?
Reference: Dublin Evening Herald (http://www.m-people.co.uk)
[Irish Times]
Two things leaped out at the observer during the eagerly awaited M People gig at the Point, Dublin: there were no handbags on the floor for young women to dance around and Heather Small had dispensed with her customary embellished bee-hive, letting her hair hang loose. This proved to be portentous, as M People belted out the songs to an adoring capacity audience.
The energetic and effervescent Ms Small, who belies her surname with an incredibly rich vocal tapestry, demonstrates an almost unique talent among contemporary performers in that her voice is as powerful and lucid on stage as it is in the studio. The rest of the band followed her lead and consequently were not to be put in the shade.
The hits boomed out, with A Sight For Sore Eyes compelling the crowd to sway in unison with arms outstretched. The atmosphere, not to mention the music, was infectious, and only manically depressed cynics would have failed to enjoy themselves. Feel good music does not get much better than this.
Reference: Irish Times (http://www.m-people.co.uk)
[Melvin Welters]
M PEOPLE @ AMSTERDAM PARADISO (APRIL 3RD. 1998)
Six years after buying my first M People single (Love You More) I finally get the chance to
see them live. And I can't wait to see them again, because they did a spot-on show. Musically
it was great and the crowd was moving up and down. Smiles, sweat and smart moves on the
dancefloor and on stage. There's eleven of them including wind-instrument whizz-kid Chris
'Snake' Davis and the rhythm section that played with ABC last year, funky drummer Velroy
Bailey and bass-player Steve Walters. They've decided to focus on the dance-anthems a bang
out a brilliant set. From the first track (Angel Street) on their show is a sublime winner.
Heather Small is a tremendous performer: smartly (and seductively!) dressed, a great soul
singer and a fantastic dancer too. Mike also moves around a lot and I can see the enthusiasm
in his eyes. Every member gets the opportunity to display his or her talent. Thinking of it,
they're not unlike Sly & The Family Stone: male and female; black and white. They should be
much bigger! Good, positive and uplifting songs, performed with joy. There's an infectious
spirit from start to finish and I wish it was possible to capture some of those moments.
The good thing about it is that they don't seem to be here for money but just to enjoy
themselves. And boy, they enjoy their gorgeous set as much as we do. From Angel Street to
a breathtaking version of Moving On Up, a string of highlights, almost without a weak moment.
Best moments for me include Fantasy Island, Moving On Up and Open Your Heart. Delivered with
panache and humour. Frighteningly close to perfection but still spontaneous. A great party
and a great night out! Almost a night in heaven. ;-D
Their play list (including not one but two encores) includes:
Angel Street, Renaissance, Someday, Sugar Town, Last Night 10000, How Can I Love You More?,
Search For The Hero, One Night In Heaven, Love Rendezvous, Open Your Heart, Just For You,
Fantasy Island, Sight For Sore Eyes, Avalon, Don't Look Any Further, Moving On Up.
Written by Melvin Welters who publishes a fanzine on ABC and writes for several music
publications.
Reference: Melvin Welters (melomania@compuserve.com)
[Official web-site]
Soul band's magic brings sweet music to sore ears.
M People welcomed Dublin to their dance zone last night as they worked their magic on frenzied fans.
The soul/dance band from Manchester opened their European tour with a sell out concert at the Point Depot, Dublin. At 8.40pm the athletic lead singer Heather Small strode majestically on stage.
"We're here to have a great time," she told the crowd as she opened the 1 & a half hour set with Angel Street. It wasn't until the Queen Of Soul invited the 6,000 strong audience to dance with her to One Night In Heaven that things really heated up.
Favourites like Open Your Heart, How Can I love You More and Movin' On Up all featured the talents of Shovell the dynamic percussionist Mike Pickering on sax and Paul Heard and had everybody singing along.
By the end of the soul searching performance it was hard to tell who was enjoying the show more - the stars or the crowd.
Reference: Official web-site (http://www.m-people.co.uk)
[Telegraph Group]
M People's mercurial talents
Simon Briggs watches the former Mercury Music Prize-winners at Wembley Arena
It has been a big month for Mercury Music Prize-winners. Roni Size, Pulp and Portishead, each of them winners over the past three years, have all played in London recently, and now it was the turn of M People, whose second album, Elegant Slumming, took the title in 1994.
The prize has not been an unmitigated bonus for M People, who controversially beat Blur's Parklife and the Prodigy's Music for a Jilted Generation, and have been receiving penfuls of critical bile ever since. When set against the Prodigy's masterpiece of techno terrorism, Elegant Slumming could hardly be considered a ground-breaking record, but it was undeniably catchy.
Founder member Mike Pickering used to be a DJ at the Hacienda Club, the epicentre of the Madchester scene of the late Eighties, and he borrowed its trademark "house piano" sound, dubbing in Heather Small's gospel-tinged vocals to create a faintly antiseptic brand of dance music. Wembley Arena's central seats had been stripped out to create an elongated dance floor, while the set, done up in tasteful shades of off-white, had the look of a Terence Conran restaurant.
Fans of all ages took the opportunity for an occasional boogie - particular during slick renditions of One Night in Heaven and How Can I Love You More. The band built up to the crescendos with effortless timing, and the arrangements were unexpectedly fresh, including a samba-style interlude on Sight for Sore Eyes.
But as the tempo slowed cracks began to show. We endured the plodding Sugar Town - where Pickering revealed himself to be the most anaemic rapper since Vanilla Ice - a misjudged synthesiser ballard called Red Flower Sunset, and a risible drum-and-bass cover version of Roxy Music's Avalon. At least we were spared their take on the Small Faces' Itichycoo Park. Classic numbers like these should not have to suffer the indignity of the dance-floor remix; perhaps a listing system, of the kind that protects distinguished buildings, should be instituted.
Small really threw herself into Search for the Hero (Inside Yourself), a song so grandiloquent that it has been used both as the soundtrack to a multi-million-pound advertising campaign and as motivational material for the England cricket team (and just look where it got them).
Her stentorian tones, which have recently cropped up on the BBC's promotional single Perfect Day, are easier to take in the cavernous surrounds of the Arena than in the confines of one's living room, but after an hour and a half of operatic projection you still feel like you've been battered by a blunt object.
An even larger venue might suit Small better - I hear the Sahara Desert is nice at this time of year.
Reference: Telegraph Group (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)
|
