For those who feel that Glastonbury loses a little more of its earthy soul the more upmarket it becomes, Henley Festival is probably not the event for you. The five-night concert series in the Oxfordshire regatta town is the UK’s only black tie festival. “You can never be over-dressed at Henley” (according to its website). Fancy listening to Gladys Knight, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, Sam Ryder and Nicole Scherzinger from the car park? Try turning up in trainers or denim.
Near the floating stage on the banks of the Thames, attendees can enjoy the finer things from the bars (where bubbly is more prominent than beer) and first-class restaurants (which offer five-course dinners). It’s certainly not your typical British festival experience. More posh than mosh, one half expects to see Bertie Wooster bumbling past.
But what fun. And what a venue for this send-off, as Knight waved goodbye to the UK as part of her final farewell tour. The Empress Of Soul brought a sense of effortless class that positively gleamed – even in this setting – and amply demonstrated one last time how she got her imperious nickname.
This is actually, if we’re counting, the 15th year of Knight’s farewell, having done her first such tour in 2009. Even this is but a sliver of a career that officially began 66 years ago when The Pips, the legendary band she began with her brothers as a child, released their first single, Whistle My Love, in 1958. As Motown greats, Gladys Knight and the Pips were an enormous force in American soul and funk throughout the 60s and 70s. Going solo in the mid-80s, the singer’s star continued to shine, as cool and chic as she was prodigiously talented.
At 80, her voice remains more powerful than those of many singers a quarter of her age. The opening throw of The Pips’ Taste Of Bitter Love sounded immense, supported by a killer band and a trio of incredible backing singers, but compared to some of what followed, it was comparatively understated. Building up momentum as the show went along, by the time a funky, slinky Save The Overtime (For Me) landed half an hour in, she was on stunning form, while during Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye), a long, sustained diva note was a flex that showed how high the bar remains set for such things.
Knight looked delighted throughout in an ultra-stylish suit, constantly telling the audience, “You’re so beautiful”. Even when she sat down for a couple of numbers, her smile and vocal range remained steadfastly undiminished.
Inevitably, I Heard It Through The Grapevine – and there can be few songs about which one could say, ‘Well, actually, I wrote that one’ with more satisfaction – was a deep-grooved highlight. License to Kill, a Bond theme far greater than the lousy film itself, showed just how dangerous she can sound, while closer Midnight Train To Georgia put a gorgeous, heart-melting full-stop on Knight’s romance with the UK.
“I don’t know if we have any royalty in the audience,” queried a voice over the PA as she waved her exit, “but we definitely have some onstage.” Very true, and this was a send-off fitting for an Empress.
No further UK dates
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