CAMDEN
SUNDAY 27TH JANUARY 2019
Minty has loved the Girl Group sound since before she was a teenager and tonight she saw that historic sound recreated to perfection on a live stage.
Backed by drums, bass, guitar, two keyboards, a horn section and two "Ronettes", Ronnie Spector walked onto the stage to great applause.
The show kicked off with "Baby I Love You" and that set the bar really high for the rest of the show. With a backdrop of film and photos being shown, in between songs Ronnie shared memories of her time as a Ronette, ranging from their appearance on the Dick Clark show, being on tour with The Rolling Stones, time with Johnny Thunders, the way they got into the Peppermint Bar in NYC when they were mistaken for the dancers to recall just a few of the stories.
Ronnie's voice was amazing, and the band really did recreate that wall of sound. She encouraged people up to the front, and started to shake hands as she walked along the front of the stage. The Beeb did not need any extra encouragement and he raced to the front and shook her hand and she blew him a kiss too!
She also included a lovely tribute to her "Big Sis" Estelle, who passed away 10 years ago, with a cover of The Bee Gees "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart" which brought a few tears to her eyes.
The encore started with a lovely tribute to Amy Whitehouse, with film of her looking at a Ronettes album in a record store, and talking about how they had inspired her, and then Ronnie covered "Back To Black" which set the whole of the Roundhouse on fire. Amy's mum, who was in the audience and has been a friend of Ronnie's for some time, must have been very moved by this tribute in Camden.
With the addition of a 24 piece choir, the night rounded off with "I Can Hear Music", before she walked off the stage to a standing ovation, rapturous applause and lots of whistles. She nailed it and she knew she did.
Videos below
Walking In The rain (part)
Don't Worry Baby
Be My Baby
I Can Hear Music
