Teena Marie - Indigo2

My favourite singer and I'd never seen her live before Saturday night! That's an outrageous admittance isn't it! Not my fault though, the last time she appeared here I was either heavily pregnant with the Hobbit, or had just had him - approximately 18 years ago. So to say I was looking forward to this was a bit of an understatement.

There was a DJ warming up and he played to the crowd - the eighties throwbacks, mainly, much like myself! He said there was an after show party till 2am; dammit, I thought, we've only paid for parking till midnight! There was a lot of grooving in the seats to In and Out, Circles, You Know How To Love Me ...we knew we'd ache next day!

The Lady Tee didn't disappoint; in fact, she was even better than I thought she could be live - amazing, her vocal is incredible, each song delivered with the sweetness and purity I fell in love with back in 1979 - and what a trip down memory lane it was, with songs from that classic '79 album, Wild and Peaceful - I'm Just A Sucker For Your Love and De Ja Vu, plus a Rick James tribute (of course!), I Need Your Lovin', Square Biz, Behind the Groove - she did Milk and Honey (her daughters joined her on stage) and You Baby off Congo Square, every uptempo song had the audience on it's feet, the ballads offering the chance to savour every note of that awesome voice. Two words: Portuguese Love.

I've never seen a star involve a band so much - and the backing singers (including her nephew) weren't just that, they had a share of the stage with Teena accompanying them - on percussion; such is her talent she frequently had guitar in hand too.

I've only one criticism - and that's not of the Lady - but some of her noisy, fidgety "fans", who I can only assume just wanted to be able to say "I was there" since they didn't shut up or keep still, they were driving me nuts! I'm pretty sure they were the same ones who didn't take their seats until she was well into her second song! They'd have been chucked out back in the day ...

It didn't detract from a blinding show - no fancy costumes or dance troupes, no flashy lighting, no pretence - just the stage with the band, the singers and the Lady herself in complete harmony. In the last few months we've seen 'Mimegate' a number of times in relation to so-called stars: Teena Marie puts them to shame. She's coming back in the summer; I'll keep you posted. To see more rave reviews, log in to Facebook if you can and join the group 'Get Teena Marie in London' or just follow the links from each of those Youtube clips (in all honesty, the quality of the uploads from the Indigo2 don't do her justice) and hear more - enjoy!

PS - must say a big THANK YOU to the lovely man who gave me change for the car park and thus helped me avoid a tutting queue!